African American patients seeking treatment in the public sector: Characteristics of buprenorphine vs. methadone patients

Background: To expand its public-sector treatment capacity, Baltimore City made buprenorphine treatment accessible to low-income, largely African American residents. This study compares the characteristics of patients entering methadone treatment vs. buprenorphine treatment to determine whether BT was attracting different types of patients. Methods: Participants consisted of two samples of adult heroin-dependent African Americans. The first sample was newly admitted to a health center or a mental health center providing buprenorphine (N=200), and the second sample was newly admitted to one of two hospital-based methadone programs (N=178). The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) and the Friends Supplemental Questionnaire were administered at treatment entry and data were analyzed with logistic regression. Results: BT participants were more likely to be female (p=.017) and less likely to inject (p=.001). Participants with only prior buprenorphine treatment experience were nearly five time more likely to enter buprenorphine than methadone treatment (p<.001). Those with experience with both treatments were more than twice as likely to enter BT (OR. =2.7, 95% CI. =1.11-6.62; p=.028). In the 30 days prior to treatment entry, BT participants reported more days of medical problems (p=.002) and depression (p=.044), and were more likely to endorse a lifetime history of depression (p<.001). Conclusion: Methadone and buprenorphine treatment provided in the public sector may attract different patient subpopulations. Providing buprenorphine treatment through drug treatment programs co-located with a health and mental health center may have accounted for their higher rates of medical and psychiatric problems and appears to be useful in attracting a diverse group of patients into public-sector funded treatment.