Trends of Buprenorphine Prescribing for Opioid Dependence Before, and During the Early and Later Part of the COVID-19: A Study from a Large Publicly-Funded Opioid Agonist Treatment Services in India

Background:

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted how people access medications for opioid dependence. Researchers looked at monthly changes in several factors related to buprenorphine/naloxone (BNX) treatment over 56 months, including before the pandemic, during the early pandemic, and later in the pandemic (from January 2017 to August 2022).

Methods:

Researchers collected data from the pharmacy records of a large publicly funded treatment center in India. A more flexible and accessible treatment approach was introduced in April 2020 due to the lockdown that began on March 25, 2020. They used statistical methods to analyze and visualize the monthly trends and forecast future trends based on data from before and during the pandemic.

Results:

• Treatment Initiations: 993 patients started BNX treatment.
• Clinic Visits: There were 40,452 clinic visits for BNX.
• Medications Dispensed: 1,401,393 BNX tablets were handed out.
• New Registrations: 6,795 new patients with opioid dependence were registered.

In April to August 2020, actual clinic visits were much lower than expected, but new treatment starts and monthly BNX prescriptions were close to projections. However, more BNX was dispensed per person than anticipated. Conversely, from March to August 2022, BNX prescriptions exceeded the upper limit of expected values.

Conclusion:

Implementing a flexible and low-threshold treatment service helped reduce the negative effects of pandemic-related restrictions on accessing opioid dependence treatment.