Suboxone Treatment Study

Suboxone Treatment Study

Summary

Addiction is a significant problem across the world, especially in developed countries. Many young adults and adolescents begin taking hard drugs, which they are unable to control, creating a significant healthcare problem for the country, which is tasked with developing better countermeasures that focus on controlling the rate of addiction. Heroin addiction has been one of the significant challenges to the United States’ public health. The inability to develop the most effective intervention has made it difficult to engage in heroin addicts. The article that forms the basis of this assessment sought to provide an understanding of the effectiveness of buprenorphine and naloxone, which is suboxone1 medicine in the treatment of opioid dependence. Understanding the efficacy of the intervention presents a more specific approach that can be effectively adopted in helping control the increasing rate of heroin addiction. There are different factors to consider before determining the intervention and whether it is likely to have a positive influence on individual wellbeing. The compatibility and negative outcomes of the treatment need to be identified to help in protecting the needs of subjects recruited in the pilot.

A new drug that combines buprenorphine, sublingual tablets, which are referred to as suboxone ^TM. The drug has been registered in the united states for use in the treatment of heroin addiction. Buprenorphine has been widely used as a maintenance drug in the treatment of opioid heroin addiction. The addition of the naloxone has been mainly to control intravenous use of the medication.  The medicine is perceived to be highly effective with an undistinguishable performance from the previous buprenorphine alone. This has made it a more effective medication in the treatment of heroin addiction among patients.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the tolerability of Suboxone. It also sought to determine whether unsupervised administration of the drug can be effective in stabilized patients. Thus in effectively assessing the development of these concepts, there was a greater emphasis on different levels of performance among individuals based on the different approaches that were being investigated.  Therefore employed patients on buprenorphine maintenance who had ceased from heroin use were given Suboxone and included weekly supplies of medication to take without any form of supervision administration. The subjects included in the study were monitored closely with weekly clinical reviews as well interviews at baseline, after three months and after six months. The study included a total of 17 respondents who were effectively engaged in the study.  The findings showed that  15 of the recruits were retained for the six month period. The results also indicated that unsupervised administration with regular clinical monitoring of Suboxone was effective in selected patients. Therefore unsupervised dosage of Suboxone does not negatively influence treatment, although there is a need to ensure that regular visits are organized.

Analysis of the article

The article has been effectively developed, which presents an understanding of the purpose and the research methods that were included in the study. The purpose of the study has been effectively outlined, which offers a more strategic knowledge of different elements that improve commitment to the underlying research problem. The article has emphasized the increasing rate of opioid addiction, which has created a major challenge to society. The article has been well developed. There is a focus on each of the aspects that have been included in defining better outcomes. The structure of the article is scientific, considering that it is organized in the form of abstract, introduction, literature review, methods, results, and discussions.

The abstract has been well developed with a focus on central concepts that are essential in development. The authors focused on creating a focus on introducing the study and helping understand the research problem. Treatment of heroin addiction has been initially done using only buprenorphine drug as the maintenance drug. However, the study sought to investigate the efficacy of a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone drugs. The combination sought to create a more efficient drug that could be efficiently utilized in unsupervised settings and obtain increased results. The introduction has been elaborate and presents more exceptional aspects that define healthy change development. The author has provided a key emphasis on different elements that have been primarily defined with a more excellent assessment of the issue that was being investigated.

The research design incorporated in the study was experimental research design, which included the follow up of the 17 recruited participants for six months with continuous reviews at the baseline, three months, and at the end of the intervention. The decision that is undertaken in this case provides a clear emphasis on better approaches that help understand the underlying differences in the management of healthcare outcomes among heroin addict patients. It is crucial to develop a transparent research methodology that helps understand the techniques that have been used in research analysis. The decision that is undertaken in this case offers a highly integrated system within which it is easier to help follow the processes that were being assessed to determine favorable outcomes. The study has not provided a transparent methodology that presents a difficult context within which better decisions can be undertaken to promote improved outcomes.

The study included both quantitative and qualitative techniques, which provided a detailed assessment of important aspects that help in creating an improved emphasis on effective outcomes.  Qualitative research methods focus on explaining the experiences and decisions that are made based on an issue that is being assessed. It helps understand important developmental aspects that are essential in improving the level of change. There is a need to define a strong change approach, which helps in creating a highly structured system that can be considered in improving the current knowledge on the issue that is being investigated. The use of statements in qualitative research provides the basis that helps inform decision making as well as policy development.

The study utilized a sample size of 17, which is small, although it presents a better focus on the issue that is being investigated, which is to develop a better emphasis on better approaches that help in creating a strong emphasis on individual development. Building a strong level of understanding of the efficacy of the intervention presents a special consideration on one of the best techniques that can be undertaken to improve individual decision making. The findings from the study show that Suboxone can be given without any form of supervision in certain subjects without having any adverse outcomes.  The combination of the drug as identified was well tolerated, and the rate of retention was high, where 17 samples recruited  15 continued with the treatment without any adverse effects.

Heroin use during treatment was not common, as well as the use of other drugs such as cannabis. The data provide an emphasis on the efficacy of unsupervised administration of suboxone. The focus on only the stable patients sought to help in maintaining a greater emphasis on the findings. Thus the findings are influenced by different factors, including selection bias and the analysis methods employed, which might have a detrimental influence on the research findings. Selection bias is defined by the inability to incorporate scientific methods. In contrast, the analysis methods form the basis where the hypothesis is evaluated, and thus, the choice of wrong analysis methods limits the validity of the findings.

However, there is an adverse case that was found where a patient after months of Suboxone, he developed cerebrovascular accident resulting in loss of speech and limitation of movement in the right arm, although this developed was effectively resolved on time. The event was judged as not having been caused by suboxone use, considering that the patient was 54 years old, a smoker, and was on treatment for hypertension. The focus on the treatment, therefore, shows that it is effective and present a well-developed emphasis on positive level engagement.

Reference

Bell, J., Byron, G., Gibson, A., & Morris, A. (2004). A pilot study of buprenorphine-naloxone combination tablet (Suboxone®) in the treatment of opioid dependence. Drug and Alcohol Review, 23(3), 311-317.