The Value of Treating Opioid Use Disorder in Family Medicine: From the Patient Perspective.

Abstract

Despite evidence demonstrating that medications for opioid use disorder (OUD) reduce morbidity and mortality, the majority of patients do not receive treatment. The National Academies of Science call for more research exploring the patient's perspective of treatment modalities to increase access to individualized, patient-centered care. We aim to build on existing literature by describing patient experiences treated for OUD in a rural family medicine setting. We employed a convenience sampling methodology to complete brief, structured interviews with thematic data analysis for 30 of 57 eligible patients receiving office-based opioid treatment (OBOT) in the primary care setting. Participants' experiences with OBOT were generally positive and shaped by societal structures and institutions, their life before treatment, their treatment history, and the kind of care they received in OBOT. Patients identified accessibility and privacy as advantages to receiving OBOT in primary care. This research identifies ways providers can provide individualized and effective OUD treatment within the family medicine setting.