Trends in Receipt of Buprenorphine and Naltrexone for Opioid Use Disorder Among Adolescents and Young Adults, 2001-2014

Abstract

Importance: Opioid use disorder (OUD) frequently begins in adolescence and young adulthood. Intervening early with pharmacotherapy is recommended by major professional organizations. No prior national studies have examined the extent to which adolescents and young adults (collectively termed youth) with OUD receive pharmacotherapy.

Objective: To identify time trends and disparities in receipt of buprenorphine and naltrexone among youth with OUD in the United States.

Design, setting, and participants: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using deidentified data from a national commercial insurance database. Enrollment and complete health insurance claims of 9.7 million youth, aged 13 to 25 years were analyzed, identifying individuals who received a diagnosis of OUD between January 1, 2001, and June 30, 2014, with final follow-up date December 31, 2014. Analysis was conducted from April 25 to December 31, 2016. Time trends were identified and multivariable logistic regression was used to determine sociodemographic factors associated with medication receipt.

Exposures: Sex, age, race/ethnicity, neighborhood education and poverty levels, geographic region, census region, and year of diagnosis.

Main outcomes and measures: Dispensing of a medication (buprenorphine or naltrexone) within 6 months of first receiving an OUD diagnosis.

Results: Among 20 822 youth diagnosed with OUD (0.2% of the 9.7 million sample), 13 698 (65.8%) were male and 17 119 (82.2%) were non-Hispanic white. Mean (SD) age was 21.0 (2.5) years at the first observed diagnosis. The diagnosis rate of OUD increased nearly 6-fold from 2001 to 2014 (from 0.26 per 100 000 person-years to 1.51 per 100 000 person-years). Overall, 5580 (26.8%) youth were dispensed a medication within 6 months of diagnosis, with 4976 (89.2%) of medication-treated youth receiving buprenorphine and 604 (10.8%) receiving naltrexone. Medication receipt increased more than 10-fold, from 3.0% in 2002 (when buprenorphine was introduced) to 31.8% in 2009, but declined in subsequent years (27.5% in 2014). In multivariable analyses, younger individuals were less likely to receive medications, with adjusted probability for age 13 to 15 years, 1.4% (95% CI, 0.4%-2.3%); 16 to 17 years, 9.7% (95% CI, 8.4%-11.1%); 18 to 20 years, 22.0% (95% CI, 21.0%-23.0%); and 21 to 25 years, 30.5% (95% CI, 30.0%-31.5%) (P < .001 for difference). Females (7124 [20.3%]) were less likely than males (13 698 [24.4%]) to receive medications (P < .001), as were non-Hispanic black (105 [14.8%]) and Hispanic (1165 [20.0%]) youth compared with non-Hispanic white (17 119 [23.1%]) youth (P < .001).

Conclusions and relevance: In this first national study of buprenorphine and naltrexone receipt among youth, dispensing increased over time. Nonetheless, only 1 in 4 commercially insured youth with OUD received pharmacotherapy, and disparities based on sex, age, and race/ethnicity were observed.

Figure 1.. Trends in Annual Rate of New Diagnoses of Opioid Use Disorder Among Youth

Data obtained from Optum database, January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2014 (N = 20 822).

Figure 2.. Trends in the Proportion of Youth Dispensed Buprenorphine or Naltrexone Within 6 Months of Opioid Use Disorder Diagnosis

Relationship with annual diagnosis rate and introduction of medications by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Data obtained from Optum database, January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2014 (N = 20 822). Youth prescribed both medications during the 6 months following OUD diagnosis were classified according to the first medication they received.

Figure 3.. Proportion of Youth With a Claim Containing an Opioid Use Disorder Diagnosis Who Were Dispensed Any Buprenorphine or Naltrexone According to Age at First Diagnosis

Data obtained from Optum database, January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2014 (N = 20 822). Error bars represent 95% CIs for the estimate.