Buprenorphine

Buprenorphine can work for a wide variety of people with OUD, including individuals of different ages, life circumstances, and co-existing medical conditions.

Evidence for the intervention

Evidence supporting opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) programs is summarized in at least eight systematic reviews. These draw mostly from observational study designs, including case series, cohort studies, and quality improvement studies. There are very few randomized controlled trials evaluating OEND programs, largely due to the overwhelming body of real-world evidence supporting naloxone distribution; this is common for interventions with substantial face-value credibility, such as parachutes or epinephrine pens. The few existing randomized controlled trials of OEND programs tend to compare one OEND implementation strategy to another OEND implementation strategy

Evidence-based Scale

Buprenorphine can work for a wide variety of people with OUD, including adolescents, pregnant individuals, and older adults, and with different types of insurance coverage. Buprenorphine can help people who use different types of opioids, including heroin or prescription opioid pills, or people with other co-existing medical conditions. Buprenorphine initiation has been studied extensively in many settings, including hospitalizations, emergency department visits, doctors' offices, and prisons and jails.