Telehealth mindfulness recovery effective than usual care in individuals with opioid use disorder

The US is experiencing an opioid crisis, with an estimated 10.1 million individuals who misuse opioids or have an opioid use disorder (OUD). To address this crisis, programs that provide medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) are expanding.2 MOUD is the criterion standard intervention for OUD, and methadone treatment (MT) is the oldest and the most widely used MOUD; yet, half of people who begin MT discontinue treatment within a year, and, within 6 months, half of people retained in an MT program continue or return to use of opioids and other illicit drugs. New interventions are needed to improve MT outcomes and retention.

Methadone treatment (MT) fails to address the emotion dysregulation, pain, and reward processing deficits that often drive opioid use disorder (OUD). New interventions are needed to address these factors.

In this randomized clinical trial of 154 individuals with chronic pain in methadone treatment for an opioid use disorder, relative to usual care, Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) plus usual care demonstrated efficacy for decreasing drug use, pain, and depression and increasing methadone treatment retention and adherence. Participants receiving MORE attended eight weekly, 2-hour telehealth groups that provided training in mindfulness, reappraisal, and savoring in addition to usual care. The findings are published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Refrence: Cooperman NA, Lu S, Hanley AW, et al. Telehealth Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement vs Usual Care in Individuals With Opioid Use Disorder and Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online December 07, 2023. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.5138.