![Reducing Opioid Use Disorder]()
Eighty percent of people who have opioid use disorder (OUD) don’t get treated. Syringe exchange programs (SEPS) are a great way to reach many of these people, who receive sterile syringes and other health services at those sites. Aaron Fox, M.D., M.S., has received a $3.5 million, five-year NIH grant to conduct a 24-week clinical trial to evaluate the possible benefits of offering OUD treatment at SEPs. Two hundred fifty out-of-treatment opioid users who use SEPs will be randomized into two groups. People in the experimental group will receive on-site buprenorphine maintenance treatment (shown to reduce opioid use and overdose and HIV risk behaviors) and then will be referred to a community health center (CHC) for continued care. People in the control group won’t receive buprenorphine maintenance treatment at SEPS but will be referred directly to a CHC for buprenorphine treatment. The researchers will evaluate whether receiving OUD treatment at SEPS encourages people to remain in treatment and reduces HIV-risk behavior. Dr. Fox is associate professor of medicine at Einstein and attending physician at Montefiore. (1R01DA044878)
Posted on: Thursday, December 07, 2017