Comparison of the characteristics of patients treated with sublingual vs. long-acting injectable buprenorphine formulations for treatment of opioid use disorder: A retrospective cohort study

Objective: Long-acting injectable buprenorphine (LAI-BPN) was introduced in recent years as a novel treatment for opioid use disorder. Despite growing evidence-base of its effectiveness, there is limited research on the relationship between this treatment and patient characteristics. Methods: This descriptive, retrospective cohort study compared sociodemographic and clinical variables between patients treated with SL-BPN and those treated with LAI-BPN at a large metropolitan health service in Queensland, Australia. Results: Patients that transitioned to LAI-BPN were more likely to be single, have a comorbid mental illness, untreated hepatitis C infection and longer duration of unsanctioned opioid use. Patients continuing treatment with SL-BPN were more likely to fail to attend appointments and have urine drug screen results positive for gabapentinoids. Conclusions: The results of this study contribute to currently limited literature on this novel treatment option in an Australian context, highlighting factors which may influence patient and prescriber treatment choices. Clinicians may be more inclined to prescribe LAI-BPN to patients with higher psychosocial comorbidity to facilitate engagement in treatment.