Research priorities for expanding access to methadone treatment for opioid use disorder in the United States: A National Institute on Drug Abuse Center for Clinical Trials Network Task Force report.
Abstract
In the US, methadone treatment can only be provided to patients with opioid use disorder
(OUD) through federal and state-regulated opioid treatment programs (OTPs). There
is a shortage of OTPs, and racial and geographic inequities exist in access to methadone
treatment. The National Institute on Drug Abuse Center for Clinical Trials Network
convened the Methadone Access Research Task Force to develop a research agenda to
expand and create more equitable access to methadone treatment for OUD. This research
agenda included mechanisms that are available within and outside the current regulations.
The task force identified 6 areas where research is needed: (1) access to methadone
in general medical and other outpatient settings; (2) the impact of methadone treatment
setting on patient outcomes; (3) impact of treatment structure on outcomes in patients
receiving methadone; (4) comparative effectiveness of different medications to treat
OUD; (5) optimal educational and support structure for provision of methadone by medical
providers; and (6) benefits and harms of expanded methadone access. In addition to
outlining these research priorities, the task force identified important cross-cutting
issues, including the impact of patient characteristics, treatment, and treatment
system characteristics such as methadone formulation and dose, concurrent behavioral
treatment, frequency of dispensing, urine or oral fluid testing, and methods of measuring
clinical outcomes. Together, the research priorities and cross-cutting issues represent
a compelling research agenda to expand access to methadone in the US.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/23959Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1080/08897077.2021.1975344Publication Info
Joudrey, Paul J; Bart, Gavin; Brooner, Robert K; Brown, Lawrence; Dickson-Gomez, Julie;
Gordon, Adam; ... Fiellin, David A (2021). Research priorities for expanding access to methadone treatment for opioid use disorder
in the United States: A National Institute on Drug Abuse Center for Clinical Trials
Network Task Force report. Substance abuse, 42(3). pp. 245-254. 10.1080/08897077.2021.1975344. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/23959.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Li-Tzy Wu
Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Education/Training: Pre- and post-doctoral training in mental health service research,
psychiatric epidemiology (NIMH T32), and addiction epidemiology (NIDA T32) from Johns
Hopkins University School of Public Health (Maryland); Fellow of the NIH Summer Institute
on the Design and Conduct of Randomized Clinical Trials.Director: Duke Community Based
Substance Use Disorder Research Program.Research interests: COVID-19, Opioid misuse,
Opioid overdose, Opioid use disorder

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