Quality of life and well-being following inpatient and partial hospitalization treatment for opioid use disorder.
Claire E Blevins, Ana M Abrantes, Megan E Kurth and 2 others
PMID 29784237WHAT IT FOUND
Most patients with opioid use disorder relapsed within 30 days of leaving hospital.
Those who relapsed used less often than before. Improvements in emotional health and quality of life scores tracked with staying abstinent, but baseline scores did not predict who would relapse.
Key findings
0161.1% of participants who completed follow-up reported at least one day of opiate use in the previous 30 days.
02Among those who relapsed, days of heroin and illicit prescription opiate use significantly decreased from baseline to follow-up.
03Improvements in Emotional Health, overall Health, and Substance Use quality of life domains were significantly associated with a reduced likelihood of relapse.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study relied on self-reported substance use with no toxicological validation to confirm abstinence. Attrition was high, with 30 of the 143 participants not completing follow-up, and those who dropped out had lower baseline scores in lifestyle and community domains. The sample size was small and limited to two brief intensive treatment programs, so results may not generalize to office-based or long-term treatment settings. The study could not determine which specific aspects of the treatment programs or aftercare contributed to the observed changes because multiple interventions were provided simultaneously. It is uncertain whether the statistically significant improvements in quality of life scores were clinically meaningful to patients.
Declared interests
No conflicts declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that receiving addiction medication or psychosocial treatment after discharge guarantees abstinence. The study found no association between these treatment utilization variables and relapse status, possibly because most participants reported using some form of aftercare, limiting the ability to detect differences.