PI-025 - PATIENT PROFILES OF OPIOID USE DISORDER PATIENTS TREATED WITH ORAL VERSUS MONTHLY INJECTABLE BUPRENORPHINE USING U.S. REAL-WORLD MEDICAID CLAIMS DATA.

C. Flynn¹, M. Jerry², J. Janak², A. Tran², M. Thompson¹, W. Mullen¹; ¹Indivior, N Chesterfield, VA, USA, ²Merative, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.

Background: Available in several formulations, buprenorphine is an effective treatment for opioid use disorder. Very few studies have looked at how patients who are taking monthly injectable buprenorphine vs. oral buprenorphine use it and how it affects them.

Methods: A retrospective claims analysis was conducted using the Merative™ MarketScan® Multi-state Medicaid Database. The index selection period was from November 1, 2017 – June 30, 2022 and the study period from May 1, 2017 – June 30, 2023. The index date was the first claim for oral buprenorphine (BUP) or buprenorphine extended-release injection (BUP-XR) during the index selection period. Patient profiles including demographics, clinical characteristics, and medication use were assessed during the 6-month baseline period, and treatment patterns were assessed during the 12-month follow-up period, with statistical significance assessed at P< 0.05.

Results: Preliminary analyses identified 66,011 BUP and 3,171 BUP-XR patients (96.4% [N=3,056] had a 300mg injection at index; 3.6% [N=115] had 100mg). Patients were predominantly female (50.7%, 56.9%), white (89.0%, 82.4%) and resided in urban areas (72.8%, 71.5%) for BUP-XR and BUP patients, respectively. BUP-XR patients had significantly higher rates of alcohol use disorder (18.0% vs. 11.7%), other substance use disorder (75.9% vs. 60.4%), depression/bipolar (53.8% vs. 35.8%), anxiety (49.9% vs. 32.7%) and hepatitis B/C (22.3% vs. 11.3%); chronic pain was significantly higher for BUP patients (31.5% vs. 28.1%). Opioid use (25.1% vs. 9.9%) and benzodiazepine use (19.2% vs. 16.2%) was significantly higher for BUP patients. Antidepressant (63.9% vs. 42.3%), antipsychotic (34.2% vs. 20.0%) and sedative use (38.7% vs. 25.9%) was significantly higher for BUP-XR patients. All reported comparisons had p< 0.001.

Conclusion: Differences exist between patients utilizing BUP and BUP-XR. BUP-XR is more likely to be used in patients with complex histories including substance use and psychiatric disorders. Studies evaluating the barriers to BUP-XR use in less complex patients are warranted.