Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Buprenorphine Treatment Duration in the US

November 20, 2022

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Buprenorphine is used to treat opioid use disorder (OUD) and reduce overdose risk. Duration of buprenorphine treatment is a measure of quality of care; longer retention is associated with superior clinical outcomes. Racial and ethnic minority patients are more likely to discontinue buprenorphine treatment earlier than White patients. However, no nationally representative studies have examined buprenorphine treatment duration over time across racial and ethnic groups. This information is needed to close the racial and ethnic gap in treatment retention for OUD.