Gressick Kimberly, Fiorillo Maria, Richardson Sarah, Bruni Maria, Brenner Stacey, Hua Miao, Prachand Nik, Gastala Nicole
Epidemic Intelligence Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States; Chicago Department of Public Health, Chicago, IL, United States.
Chicago Department of Public Health, Chicago, IL, United States.
Int J Drug Policy. 2025 Mar;137:104729. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.104729. Epub 2025 Feb 6.
Globally, opioid use remains a major public health problem. In 2019, 480,000 deaths were related to opioid use. Locally, mortality from opioid-involved overdose is high among Illinois residents, with 83 % of ∼4000 overdose deaths during 2022 involving opioids. Treatment for opioid use disorder with buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone is approved, safe, and effective. However, significant barriers to treatment remain for many persons.
In response to new prescribing policy flexibilities, in May 2022, the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Substance Use Prevention and Recovery Division of the Illinois Department of Human Services partnered with a statewide opioid treatment provider, Family Guidance Centers. The partnership started an immediate opioid use disorder treatment helpline program. We performed a descriptive analysis using aggregate data from all calls for assistance with substance use received by the Illinois Helpline during May 9, 2022-March 7, 2024.
A total of 2649 unique calls were made to the helpline from persons seeking assistance with substance use, and 1698 unique callers were connected to Family Guidance Centers for treatment initiation. Most callers were prescribed buprenorphine by telemedicine, followed by methadone during in-person treatment. In total, 1515 (89.2 %) of 1698 callers with opioid use disorder were initiated on buprenorphine or methadone through the program.
A state-wide low-barrier access to medications by telemedicine program is an effective treatment model for the initiation of medications for opioid use disorder.
在全球范围内，阿片类药物的使用仍然是一个重大的公共卫生问题。2019年，有48万人死于阿片类药物使用。在本地，伊利诺伊州居民中因阿片类药物过量导致的死亡率很高，2022年约4000例过量死亡中有83%与阿片类药物有关。使用丁丙诺啡、美沙酮和纳曲酮治疗阿片类药物使用障碍是被批准的、安全且有效的。然而，对许多人来说，治疗仍存在重大障碍。
为应对新的处方政策灵活性，2022年5月，芝加哥公共卫生部和伊利诺伊州人类服务部物质使用预防与康复司与全州的阿片类药物治疗提供商家庭指导中心合作。该合作启动了一个即时阿片类药物使用障碍治疗热线项目。我们使用了2022年5月9日至2024年3月7日期间伊利诺伊州热线接到的所有物质使用求助电话的汇总数据进行描述性分析。
共有2649个来自寻求物质使用帮助者的热线电话，1698名不同的来电者与家庭指导中心取得联系以开始治疗。大多数来电者通过远程医疗获得丁丙诺啡处方，其次是在面对面治疗期间获得美沙酮处方。在1698名患有阿片类药物使用障碍的来电者中，共有1515人（89.2%）通过该项目开始使用丁丙诺啡或美沙酮。
全州范围内通过远程医疗项目提供低门槛药物获取途径是启动阿片类药物使用障碍药物治疗的有效模式。
