Risk of Experiencing an Overdose Event for Patients Undergoing Treatment With Medication for Opioid Use Disorder

What is it about?

Patients with opioid use disorder have an increased risk of experiencing an overdose event. While medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) treatment decreases overdose risks, a quantitative assessment of overdose risk is not presently available. Adverse events including both fatal and non-fatal overdose events are surveyed in pragmatic clinical trials, allowing a more precise estimate of risk of overdose events during MOUD treatment. Our data, drawn from three previously completed clinical trials, indicate that patients undergoing MOUD treatment have a non-negligible risk of overdose events in the first 24 weeks of treatment (39/2199, 1.78%). Overdose risk is higher among those who fail to initiate or discontinue medication, and/or report benzodiazepine use at baseline.

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