Table 3. Descriptive statistics of patient demographics and comorbidities of patients who received buprenorphine, methadone, or naltrexone (n = 15,080).
* Total days’ drug supply regardless of continuous enrollment post-OUD diagnosis.
ER, emergency room; SD, standard deviation; OUD, opioid use disorder; AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus.
| Characteristics | Buprenorphine, N = 11,726 | Methadone, N = 1,633 | Naltrexone, N = 1,721 | Overall, N = 15,080 | p-value |
| Outcome | |||||
| Censored because of end-of-study follow-up | 5,645 (48.14) | 768 (47.03) | 573 (33.29) | 6,986 | 0.0001 |
| Overdose-related hospitalization/ER (event) | 1,395 (11.9) | 237 (14.51) | 259 (15.05) | 1,891 | |
| Censored because of loss of coverage | 4,686 (39.96) | 628 (38.46) | 889 (51.66) | 6,203 | |
| Age at diagnosis, mean (SD) | 49.05 (15.50) | 53.50 (15.34) | 37.93 (14.69) | 48.26 (15.89) | 0.0001 |
| Sex | |||||
| Female | 5,195 (44.3) | 703 (43.05) | 689 (40.03) | 6,587 | 0.0033 |
| Male | 6,531 (55.7) | 930 (56.95) | 1,032 (59.97) | 8,493 | |
| Race | |||||
| White | 8,525 (72.7) | 1,133 (69.38) | 1,324 (76.93) | 10,982 | 0.0001 |
| Black | 1,128 (9.62) | 158 (9.68) | 130 (7.55) | 1,416 | |
| Hispanic | 864 (7.37) | 158 (9.68) | 133 (7.73) | 1,155 | |
| Asian | 153 (1.3) | 15 (0.92) | 27 (1.57) | 195 | |
| Unknown or other | 1,056 (9.01) | 169 (10.35) | 107 (6.22) | 1,332 | |
| Region | |||||
| Midwest | 2,233 (19.04) | 313 (19.17) | 393 (22.84) | 2,939 | 0.0001 |
| North | 1,359 (11.59) | 217 (13.29) | 261 (15.17) | 1,837 | |
| South | 5,580 (47.59) | 694 (42.5) | 681 (39.57) | 6,955 | |
| West | 2,554 (21.78) | 409 (25.05) | 386 (22.43) | 3,349 | |
| Total days’ drug supply* | |||||
| 1–3 months | 4,275 (36.7) | 350 (35.86) | 1,044 (71.41) | 5,669 | 0.0001 |
| 3–6 months | 1,859 (15.96) | 135 (13.83) | 243 (16.62) | 2,237 | |
| 6+ months | 5,513 (47.33) | 491 (50.31) | 175 (11.97) | 6,179 | |
| Post-OUD psychotherapy | 3,172 (27.05) | 271 (16.6) | 912 (52.99) | 4,355 | 0.0001 |
| Elixhauser comorbidity | |||||
| Alcohol abuse | 1,514 (12.91) | 105 (6.43) | 914 (53.11) | 2,533 | 0.0001 |
| Cardiac arrhythmia | 1,861 (15.87) | 308 (18.86) | 298 (17.32) | 2,467 | 0.0048 |
| Blood loss anemia | 146 (1.25) | 40 (2.45) | 18 (1.05) | 204 | 0.0002 |
| Congestive heart failure | 845 (7.21) | 181 (11.08) | 57 (3.31) | 1,083 | 0.0001 |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 3,119 (26.6) | 472 (28.9) | 312 (18.13) | 3,903 | 0.0001 |
| Coagulopathy | 424 (3.62) | 118 (7.23) | 62 (3.6) | 604 | 0.0001 |
| Deficiency anemia | 814 (6.94) | 145 (8.88) | 86 (5) | 1,045 | 0.0001 |
| Depression | 5,477 (46.71) | 638 (39.07) | 1,068 (62.06) | 7,183 | 0.0001 |
| Diabetes | 2,057 (17.54) | 374 (22.9) | 153 (8.89) | 2,584 | 0.0001 |
| Fluid and electrolyte disorders | 1,863 (15.89) | 339 (20.76) | 300 (17.43) | 2,502 | 0.0001 |
| AIDS or HIV | 68 (0.58) | 11 (0.67) | 11 (0.64) | 90 | 0.8733 |
| Hypertension | 5,354 (45.66) | 825 (50.52) | 505 (29.34) | 6,684 | 0.0001 |
| Hypothyroidism | 1,641 (13.99) | 264 (16.17) | 148 (8.6) | 2,053 | 0.0001 |
| Liver disease | 1,227 (10.46) | 222 (13.59) | 203 (11.8) | 1,652 | 0.0004 |
| Cancer | 472 (4.03) | 157 (9.61) | 34 (1.98) | 663 | 0.0001 |
| Obesity | 2,152 (18.35) | 324 (19.84) | 231 (13.42) | 2,707 | 0.0001 |
| Other neurological disorders | 1,208 (10.3) | 200 (12.25) | 192 (11.16) | 1,600 | 0.0422 |
| Pulmonary circulation disorders | 344 (2.93) | 77 (4.72) | 27 (1.57) | 448 | 0.0001 |
| Peptic ulcer disease, excluding bleeding | 263 (2.24) | 41 (2.51) | 15 (0.87) | 319 | 0.0006 |
| Peripheral vascular disorders | 1,124 (9.59) | 262 (16.04) | 68 (3.95) | 1,454 | 0.0001 |
| Paralysis | 142 (1.21) | 38 (2.33) | 11 (0.64) | 191 | 0.0001 |
| Psychoses | 522 (4.45) | 36 (2.2) | 142 (8.25) | 700 | 0.0001 |
| Renal failure | 840 (7.16) | 186 (11.39) | 45 (2.61) | 1,071 | 0.0001 |
| Rheumatoid arthritis or collagen | 1,500 (12.79) | 234 (14.33) | 99 (5.75) | 1,833 | 0.0001 |
| Valvular disease | 685 (5.84) | 143 (8.76) | 52 (3.02) | 880 | 0.0001 |
| Weight loss | 647 (5.52) | 139 (8.51) | 74 (4.3) | 860 | 0.0001 |