Individual-Level Factors Associated with Receipt of Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: Findings from a Community...

Significant individual, social, community, and societal barriers impede access to opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment. We examined individual-level factors associated with treatment and retention among community members linked to OUD treatment.

This study is a secondary analysis of data collected from Project ASPIRE, an Ohio emergency department-based (ED) screening initiative designed to link individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) to specialty care. Our sample from Project ASPIRE included participants who endorsed past-month OUD (n = 352). Focusing on individual-level variables from a socioecological framework, we used baseline measures of sociodemographics, prior 30-day substance use, mental and physical health, and trauma exposure to examine associations with prior 30-day SUD treatment and 6-month retention in Project ASPIRE using multiple logistic regression.

Although we did not observe significant associations between many of the individual-level variables and outcomes, several effects were significant. History of physical or psychological trauma (OR= 0.39) and heroin use (OR= 0.99) were associated with decreased odds of having received buprenorphine. Completing high school was associated with increased odds of having received buprenorphine (OR= 2.91). Heroin use was associated with decreased odds of having received inpatient SUD treatment (OR= 0.98). Methamphetamine/amphetamine use was associated with decreased odds of having received methadone (OR= 0.92) and remaining in Project ASPIRE six months after baseline (OR= 0.93).

These findings suggest that heroin and methamphetamine/amphetamine use, exposure to trauma, and education may be important to assess when linking individuals with OUD to SUD treatment from the ED.