Utilization and disparities in medication treatment for opioid use disorder among patients with comorbid opioid use disorder and chronic pain during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic's impact on utilization of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) among patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) and chronic pain is unclear.

Methods

We analyzed New York State (NYS) Medicaid claims from pre-pandemic (August 2019-February 2020) and pandemic (March 2020-December 2020) periods for beneficiaries with and without chronic pain. We calculated monthly proportions of patients with OUD diagnoses in 6-month-lookback windows utilizing MOUD and proportions of treatment-naïve patients initiating MOUD. We used interrupted time series to assess changes in MOUD utilization and initiation rates by medication type and by race/ethnicity.

Results

Among 20,785 patients with OUD and chronic pain, 49.3% utilized MOUD (versus 60.3% without

SUBMITTER: Perry A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10841620 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature