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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Aug 1.
Published in final edited form as: Drug Alcohol Depend. 2021 May 21;225:108784. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108784

Table 2.

Impact of out-of-pocket cost for buprenorphine on treatment retention and gaps in treatment coverage.

Retained in treatment by retention perioda aOR (95 % CI)b,d Percentage increase in number of days without treatment coverage by retention period IRR (95 % CI)c,d
Measure 180 days 360 days 540 days 180 days 360 days 540 days
Daily out-of-pocket cost ($) 0.88 (0.86, 0.90) 0.86 (0.84, 0.89) 0.87 (0.84, 0.89) 0.05 (0.05, 0.06) 0.08 (0.08, 0.09) 0.08 (0.08, 0.09)

Notes: Data Source: IBM® MarketScan® commercial claims and encounters database.

SUD diagnosis covariates: opioid, alcohol, cannabis, sedatives, cocaine, stimulants, and nicotine.

Psychiatric diagnosis covariates: anxiety, bipolar disorder, major depression, other mood disorders, ADHD, PTSD, and schizophrenia.

Pain diagnosis covariates: back pain, neck pain, migraine, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, inflammatory joint disorder, and periarticular.

Other prescription covariates: Opioids, antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and stimulants.

IRR = incidence rate ratio, SUD = substance use disorder.

a

Retained = Patient’s buprenorphine prescriptions (days supplied) cover at least 80 % of the days within the retention window, which refers to the number of days since treatment inception during the analysis period.

b

Multivariable logistic regression models with binary dependent variable (retained = 1, not retained = 0). Interpretation is: A $1 increase in daily out-of-pocket cost is associated with the demonstrated decrease (aOR<1.0) in the odds of the dependent variable. Models controlled for demographic, SUD, psychiatric, pain, and other prescription covariates.

c

Multivariable Poisson regression models with count dependent variable representing the number of days a patient was without daily supply during the retention window. Interpretation is: A $1 increase in daily out-of-pocket cost is associated with the demonstrated increase in the incidence of the dependent variable. Models includes only individuals defined as retained during the stated retention window. Models controlled for demographic, SUD, psychiatric, pain, and other prescription covariates.

d

Demographic covariates: age, sex, and census region.