Opioid Use Disorder Treatment

Opioid use disorder treatment research examines how clinicians, health systems, and policymakers can reduce the harms caused by both the misuse of prescription opioids and the broader opioid epidemic, which has contributed to hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths in the United States over the past two decades. Researchers study the effectiveness of medication-assisted therapies such as buprenorphine and methadone, the relationship between prescribing practices and the transition from therapeutic use to dependence, and the structural factors that shape access to treatment across different populations. A central tension in the field involves balancing adequate pain management for people with legitimate chronic pain against the well-documented risks of long-term opioid prescribing, including tolerance, misuse, and mortality. Active directions include understanding why treatment retention rates remain low, how to extend care into underserved rural and low-income communities, and what role prescription drug monitoring programs actually play in curbing overprescribing without restricting necessary care.

Works

69,561

Total citations

947,868

Keywords

Opioid PrescribingChronic Pain ManagementOpioid OverdoseAddiction TreatmentPrescription OpioidsMortality Risk