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Opioid use disorder treated in primary care
Summary of the evidence
In a PEER umbrella systematic review of systematic reviews, a meta-analysis on three RCT found that:
- Retention in treatment improves when OUD is treated in primary care (86% vs 67% in specialty care, risk ratio [RR] of 1.25, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.47)
- Street opioid abstinence was also higher in primary care settings (53% vs 35%, RR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.12 to 2.01, I2 = 74%). However, heterogeneity was high and this included both self-reported and urine-confirmed data.
There is reasonable evidence that patients with OUD should be managed in the primary care setting.
Details
Note: this evidence summary is only valid for the outcomes, target groups, settings and substances/patterns of use described below.
