title: Preference for brand-name buprenorphine is related to severity of addiction among outpatients in opioid maintenance treatment.
abstract: As a form of opioid maintenance treatment, high-dose buprenorphine is increasingly being used in the United States. On the French market since 1996, it is the most commonly prescribed and frequently employed opioid maintenance treatment. For unknown reasons, the brand-name form is used far more often than the generic form (76-24%). The objective was to show that the patients' levels of addiction were differentiated according to the form of buprenorphine currently being used and to their previous experience of a different form. An observational study in 9 sites throughout France used self-assessment questionnaires filled out in retail pharmacies by all patients to whom their prescribed buprenorphine treatment was being delivered. The 151 canvassed pharmacies solicited 879 patients, of whom 724 completed the questionnaires. Participants were statistically similar to non-participants. The patients using the brand-name form subsequent to experience with the generic form exhibited a more elevated addiction severity index and a higher dosage than brand-name form users with no experience of a different form. Compared to generic users, their doses were higher, their was addiction more severe, and their alcohol consumption was more excessive; they were also more likely to make daily use of psychotropic substances. However, the level of misuse or illicit consumption was similar between these groups. Preferring the brand-name buprenorphine form to the generic form is associated with a higher level of severe addiction, a more frequent need for daily psychotropics, and excessive drinking; but the study was unable to show a causal link.
authors.affiliation: a Department of General Practice , Faculty of Medicine, University of Poitiers , Poitiers , France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Binder
authors.affiliation: b Department of General Practice , Faculty of Medicine of Lille 2-University of Health and Law , Lille , France.
authors.forename: Nassir
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Messaadi
authors.affiliation: c Clinical Pharmacology and Vigilances, INSERM CIC-1402, Faculty of Medicine , Poitiers , France.
authors.forename: Marie-Christine
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Perault-Pochat
authors.affiliation: a Department of General Practice , Faculty of Medicine, University of Poitiers , Poitiers , France.
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gagey
authors.affiliation: a Department of General Practice , Faculty of Medicine, University of Poitiers , Poitiers , France.
authors.forename: Yann
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Brabant
authors.affiliation: d Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics , INSERM CIC-1402, Faculty of Medicine , Poitiers , France.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ingrand
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002047:Buprenorphine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016568:Drugs, Generic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D058850:Opiate Substitution Treatment / Q000523:psychology*; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D010045:Outpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D057240:Patient Preference; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D016568:Drugs, Generic; D002047:Buprenorphine
keywords: Buprenorphine; generic; opiate substitution treatment; prescription drug misuse