Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Department of Pediatrics, Epidemiology and Data Management (BEAD) Core, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
J Adolesc Health. 2022 Aug;71(2):239-241. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.03.015. Epub 2022 May 17.
The COVID-19 pandemic's impact on buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) is unknown.
We used IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Claims, including US AYAs aged 12-29 with at least 1 buprenorphine fill between January 2018 and August 2020, stratifying by age group and insurance. We compared buprenorphine prescriptions in March-August 2019 to March-August 2020.
The monthly buprenorphine prescription rate increased 8.3% among AYAs aged 12-17 but decreased 7.5% among 18- to 24-year-olds and decreased 5.1% among 25- to 29-year-olds. In these age groups, Medicaid prescriptions did not significantly change, whereas commercial insurance prescriptions decreased 12.9% among 18- to 24-year-olds and 11.8% in 25- to 29-year-olds, and cash/other prescriptions decreased 18.7% among 18- to 24-year-olds and 19.9% in 25- to 29-year-olds (p < .001 for all).
Buprenorphine prescriptions paid with commercial insurance or cash among young adults significantly decreased early in the pandemic, suggesting a possible unmet treatment need among this group.
COVID-19 大流行对青少年和青年（AYA）中阿片类药物使用障碍的丁丙诺啡治疗的影响尚不清楚。
我们使用了 IQVIA 纵向处方数据，包括年龄在 12-29 岁之间、2018 年 1 月至 2020 年 8 月间至少有 1 次丁丙诺啡用药记录的美国 AYA，按年龄组和保险类型进行分层。我们比较了 2019 年 3 月至 8 月和 2020 年 3 月至 8 月期间的丁丙诺啡处方情况。
12-17 岁 AYA 的丁丙诺啡每月处方率增加了 8.3%，但 18-24 岁的青少年减少了 7.5%，25-29 岁的青少年减少了 5.1%。在这些年龄组中，医疗补助计划的处方没有显著变化，而商业保险的处方在 18-24 岁的青少年中减少了 12.9%，在 25-29 岁的青少年中减少了 11.8%，而现金/其他保险的处方在 18-24 岁的青少年中减少了 18.7%，在 25-29 岁的青少年中减少了 19.9%（所有组 p <.001）。
在大流行早期，使用商业保险或现金支付的年轻成年人的丁丙诺啡处方显著减少，表明该人群可能存在未满足的治疗需求。
