Gender and Overdose Risk Factors Among Clients Entering Residential Treatment for Opioid Use.

Area of Science:

• Addiction Medicine
• Public Health
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• The period following residential treatment for opioid use disorder presents a critical window of heightened overdose risk.
• Understanding the diverse characteristics and substance use patterns of individuals undergoing treatment is essential for effective intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize men and women in residential opioid use treatment.
• To identify distinct client classes based on primary opioid and co-occurring substance use.
• To explore the relationship between substance use profiles, sociodemographic factors, and overdose risk, including gender differences.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from 2994 clients in New South Wales, Australia, receiving residential treatment for opioid use.
• Descriptive and chi-square statistics to analyze participant characteristics.
• Latent class analysis to identify polysubstance use profiles, followed by multinomial logistic regression to examine risk factor associations.

Main Results:

• Significant differences were observed in demographic, clinical, substance use, and service use characteristics between men and women.
• A five-class polysubstance use model was identified: heroin + lower polysubstance use (52.3%), heroin + polysubstance use (22.2%), pharmaceutical + lower polysubstance use (10.1%), pharmaceutical + polysubstance use (6.7%), and opioid agonist therapy (OAT) + polysubstance use (8.7%).
• Associations were found between sociodemographic risk factors and class membership, with limited gender interactions.

Conclusions:

• Overdose prevention and harm reduction strategies must be individualized, acknowledging the complex and unique accumulation of risks faced by individuals during and after residential treatment.
• Recognizing diverse polysubstance use patterns is key to developing targeted interventions for opioid use disorder recovery.