Travel Burden to Cancer Screening and Treatment Facilities Among Washington Women: Data From an Integrated Healthcare Delivery System.

PURPOSE: To characterize distance traveled for breast cancer screening and to sites of service for breast cancer treatment, among rural and urban women served by a Washington State healthcare network. METHODS: Data for this study came from one of the largest not-for-profit integrated healthcare delivery systems in Washington State. Generalized linear mixed models with gamma log link function were used to examine the associations between travel distance and sociodemographic and contextual characteristics of patients. RESULTS: Median travel distance for breast cancer screening facilities, hematologist/oncologists, radiation oncologists, or surgeons was 11, 19, 23, or 11 miles, respectively. Travel distance to breast cancer screening or referral facilities was longer in non-core metropolitan ZIP codes compared to metropolitan ZIP codes. AI/AN and Hispanic women travelled longer distances to reach referral facilities compared to other racial and ethnic groups. CONCLUSION: Disparities exist in travel distance to breast cancer screening and treatment. Further research is needed to describe sociodemographic and system level characteristics that contribute to such disparities and to discover novel approaches to alleviate this burden.

The impact of relaxation of methadone take-home protocols on treatment outcomes in the COVID-19 era.

BACKGROUND: Background: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) allowed for an increase in methadone take-home doses for the treatment of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) in March 2020. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of the SAMSHA exemption on methadone adherence and OUD-related outcomes. METHODS: A convenience sample of 183 clients (58% female) were recruited from a methadone clinic in the fall of 2019 for a cross-sectional survey. Survey data was linked to clinical records, including urine drug testing (UDT) results for methadone and emergency department (ED) visits at the local hospital. Participants were on stable methadone dosing for 9 months prior to and following March 2020. Methadone adherence was assessed by UDTs; OUD-related outcomes were assessed by overdose events and ED visits. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between change in take-home methadone doses and outcomes. RESULTS: Mean take-home doses increased nearly 200% (11.4 doses/30 days pre-COVID-19 vs. 22.3 post-SAMHSA exemption). ED visits dropped from 74 (40.4%) pre-COVID-19 to 56 (30.6%) post-SAMHSA exemption (p = <0.001). No significant changes were observed in either the number of clients experiencing overdose or those who experienced one or more methadone negative UDTs in the post-SAMHSA exemption period. Adjusted models did not show a significant association between changes in take-home doses and associated outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a near-doubling of take-home methadone doses during the COVID-19 exemption period, the increase in take-home doses was not associated with negative treatment outcomes in methadone-adherent clients.

Spatial access to opioid treatment program and alcohol and cannabis outlets: analysis of missed doses of methadone during the first, second, and third 90 days of treatment.

Background: The burden of access to opioid treatment programs (OTPs) may change as clients become eligible for take-home privileges. Our previous study showed clients who lived more than 10-miles away from an OTP were more likely to miss methadone doses during the first 30 days of treatment. Proximity to alcohol and cannabis outlets may also negatively influence treatment adherence.Objective: To examine the association between access to this OTP, alcohol and cannabis outlets, and the number of missed methadone doses during the first, second, and third 90 days of treatment.Methods: The number of missed methadone doses was calculated for 752, 689, and 584 clients who remained in treatment, respectively, for at least 3, 6, and 9 months (50% female). Distance between client's home and the OTP, alcohol, and cannabis outlets was measured. Generalized linear models were employed.Results: Shorter distance from a client's residence to the OTP was associated with a decreased number of missed methadone doses during the first 90 days of treatment. Shorter distance to the closest cannabis retail outlet was associated with an increased number of missed methadone doses during the first and second 90 days of treatment. Shorter distance to the closest off-premise alcohol outlet was associated with an increased number of missed methadone doses during the third 90 days of treatment.Conclusions: Improving spatial accessibility of OTPs are essential to ensure treatment opportunities are available for individuals so affected. Exploring to what extent residing in areas that facilitate alcohol and cannabis availability can influence treatment adherence is warranted.

Three-year retention in methadone opioid agonist treatment: A survival analysis of clients by dose, area deprivation, and availability of alcohol and cannabis outlets.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of clinical, socio-demographic, and contextual characteristics on treatment retention in an opioid treatment program (OTP). METHODS: A retrospective longitudinal review of 851 clients who received methadone at the only state-funded OTP in Spokane County, Washington between 2015 and 2017. A time variable (the number of days in treatment) and a status indicator (to distinguish between clients who dropped out or censored) worked together to define retention in treatment. Our hypothesized covariates included: area deprivation, distance to the OTP, availability of cannabis retail outlets, availability of on-premise and off-premise alcohol outlets, methadone dosage, age, gender, race, and years on treatment. Cox regression within the family of survival analysis was used to model time-to-event data in the presence of censored cases. RESULTS: The median duration of retention was 394 (95%CI = 324-464) days. In the multivariable Cox regression, factors predicting treatment retention were area deprivation (HR = 1.79, 95%CI = 1.02-3.15, p = 0.04), age (HR=0.99, 95%CI=0.98-.99, p = 0.008), dosage of methadone (HR=0.98, 95%CI=0.98-0.98, p < 0.001), and the number of years on treatment (HR=1.12, 95%CI=1.06-1.18, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study showed age and methadone dosage were protective factors and area deprivation and years on treatment were risk factors for treatment retention. After dichotomizing methadone dosage, a unique finding of this study was that higher dosage of methadone did not lead to increasingly smaller HRs for dropping out of treatment. Considering that opioid use disorder is a chronic condition, efforts need to be made to target factors associated with retention.