Association Between Telehealth Initiation Of Stimulant Therapy And New Substance Use Disorder Diagnoses.

ABSTRACT: Policy makers have temporarily extended COVID-19 pandemic-related flexibilities allowing controlled substance prescribing via telehealth without in-person visits. To inform debates regarding whether these flexibilities should be permanent, we used commercial and Medicaid claims to evaluate the risk for newly diagnosed substance use disorders (SUDs) associated with telehealth versus in-person initiation of stimulant therapy. Analyses included 77,153 patients ages 12-64 without prior SUD diagnoses who initiated stimulant therapy during 2021. The outcome was a new diagnosis for SUD within 365 days of initiation. The prevalence of new SUDs was higher in the telehealth versus in-person group (3.7 percent versus 3.2 percent), as was the prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities, which are known SU

SUBMITTER: Constantin J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12919471 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature