Quality of life as an outcome of opioid use disorder treatment: A systematic review

Objectives. To assess the efficacy of acupuncture in treating opioid use disorder (OUD). Design. Systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods. PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Embase, PsycINFO, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Web of Science, ProQuest Dissertation and Theses, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED), Clinicaltrials.gov, and who.int/trialsearch were searched from inception to 23 December 2017. The methodological quality of selected studies and the quality of evidence for outcomes were assessed, respectively, by the Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool and the GRADE approach. Statistical analyses were conducted by RevMan 5.3. Results. A total of nine studies involving 1063 participants fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The results showed that acupuncture could be more beneficial than no treatment/sham acupuncture in terms of changes in craving for opioid (MD -2.18, 95% CI -3.10 to -1.26), insomnia (MD 2.31, 95% CI 1.97 to 2.65), and depression (SMD -1.50, 95% CI -1.85 to -1.15). In addition, these findings showed that, compared to sham electroacupuncture (EA), EA had differences in alleviating symptoms of craving (SMD -0.50, 95% CI -0.94 to -0.05) and depression (SMD -1.07, 95% CI -1.88 to -0.25) and compared to sham transcutaneous acupoint electrical stimulation (TEAS), TEAS had differences in alleviating symptoms of insomnia (MD 2.31, 95% CI 1.97 to 2.65) and anxiety (MD -1.26, 95% CI -1.60 to -0.92) compared to no treatment/sham TEAS. Conclusions. Acupuncture could be effective in treating OUD. Moreover, EA could effectively alleviate symptoms of craving for opioid and depression, and TEAS could be beneficial in improving symptoms of insomnia and anxiety. Nevertheless, the conclusions were limited due to the low-quality and small number of included studies. PROSPERO registration number is CRD42018085063.

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Sociodemographic and Clinical Characteristics Associated with Improvements in Quality of Life for Participants with Opioid Use Disorder

Healthcare ◽

10.3390/healthcare10010167 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 167

Author(s):

Assaf Gottlieb ◽

Christine Bakos-Block ◽

James R. Langabeer ◽

Tiffany Champagne-Langabeer

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Clinical Characteristics ◽

Opioid Use Disorder ◽

Opioid Use ◽

Professional Counseling ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Multiple Dimensions ◽

Average Improvement ◽

Engagement System

Background: The Houston Emergency Opioid Engagement System was established to create an access pathway into long-term recovery for individuals with opioid use disorder. The program determines effectiveness across multiple dimensions, one of which is by measuring the participant’s reported quality of life (QoL) at the beginning of the program and at successive intervals. Methods: A visual analog scale was used to measure the change in QoL among participants after joining the program. We then identified sociodemographic and clinical characteristics associated with changes in QoL. Results: 71% of the participants (n = 494) experienced an increase in their QoL scores, with an average improvement of 15.8 ± 29 points out of a hundred. We identified 10 factors associated with a significant change in QoL. Participants who relapsed during treatment experienced minor increases in QoL, and participants who attended professional counseling experienced the largest increases in QoL compared with those who did not. Conclusions: Insight into significant factors associated with increases in QoL may inform programs on areas of focus. The inclusion of counseling and other services that address factors such as psychological distress were found to increase participants’ QoL and success in recovery.

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