As an add-on to counseling in treating opioid addiction in adolescents, the drug buprenorphine is more effective than standard addiction treatment. Despite an increase in opioid dependency among adolescents over the last decade, relatively little research has been done to identify effective therapies for these young patients. Researchers from the University of Vermont in Burlington, USA, assessed the outcomes of 36 opioid-dependent teens who were assigned to medication-assisted withdrawal therapy with either buprenorphine or clonidine. All subjects also received thrice-weekly behavioral counseling. Seventy-two percent of patients in the buprenorphine group stayed in treatment compared with just 39 percent of those given clonidine. Moreover, the percentage of buprenorphine-treated patients with opiate-negative urine test results was 64 percent, double the percentage seen in the clonidine group. Relief of withdrawal symptoms and reduction in drug-related HIV risk behavior was noted among subjects in both groups. In general, buprenorphine-treated subjects described more positive effects of their medication than those given clonidine. No evidence of opioid intoxication or psychomotor impairment was seen. The above study is the first randomised controlled trial to evaluate combined behavioral and pharmacological treatments for adolescents dependent on opioids. The results suggest that buprenorphine plus behavioral counseling is an effective intervention for opioid addiction.
Archives of General Psychiatry,
October 2005