Research That Matters: Patient-Reported Outcomes of Treatment of Opioid Dependence With Weekly & Monthly Subcutaneous Depot vs. Daily Sublingual Buprenorphine, A Randomized Clinical Trial

Long-acting injectable buprenorphine provides an alternative to taking buprenorphine every day. Most comparative studies of medications for opioid use disorder (OUD) focus on retention and illicit opioid use. This study asked a different and clinically important question: Do patients experience the treatment itself differently?

Lintzeris and colleagues conducted a 24-week, open-label randomized clinical trial involving 119 adults at six outpatient addiction treatment centers in Australia. All participants were receiving sublingual buprenorphine before enrollment. They were randomized either to continue daily sublingual buprenorphine or to transition to weekly or monthly subcutaneous depot buprenorphine. The primary outcome was global treatment satisfaction at week 24, measured with the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM).

Participants assigned to depot buprenorphine reported significantly greater treatment satisfaction and substantially lower treatment burden. They also rated the treatment as more convenient. However, the groups did not differ significantly in illicit opioid use, withdrawal, craving, or treatment retention. Adverse drug reactions were more frequently reported with depot treatment, largely because of generally mild injection-site reactions.

The study therefore supports a focused conclusion: Among patients already stabilized on sublingual buprenorphine, transitioning to this weekly or monthly injectable formulation improved the patient-reported treatment experience over 24 weeks, but it did not demonstrate superior retention or illicit opioid-use outcomes.