Examining differences in retention on medication for opioid use disorder: An analysis of Ohio Medicaid data.

BACKGROUND: Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUDs), including methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone, are associated with lower death rates and improved quality of life for people in recovery from opioid use disorder (OUD). Less is known about each MOUD modality's association with treatment retention and the contribution of behavioral health therapy (BHT). The objectives of the current study were to estimate the association between MOUD type and treatment retention and determine whether BHT was associated with length of time retained. METHODS: We investigated the time from initiation to discontinuation from MOUD by medication type and exposure to BHT using statewide Medicaid Claims data (N = 81,752). We estimated covariate adjusted hazard ratios (AHR) using a Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: Compared to methadone, buprenorphine was associated with a higher risk of discontinuation at the time of initiation (AHR = 2.41, 95% CI = 2.28-2.55), however that difference decreased over one year of maintained retention (AHR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.37-1.50). Compared to methadone and buprenorphine, naltrexone was associated with a higher risk of discontinuation at the time of initiation (naltrexone vs. methadone AHR = 2.49, 95% CI = 2.30-2.65; naltrexone vs. buprenorphine AHR 1.03, 95% CI = 1.00-1.07), and that relative risk increased over the course of one year of retention (naltrexone vs. methadone AHR = 3.85, 95% CI = 3.63-4.09; naltrexone vs. buprenorphine AHR = 2.67, 95% CI = 2.54-2.81). In general, independent of MOUD type, exposure to BHT during MOUD treatment was associated with a lower risk of discontinuation (AHR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.92-0.96). However, BHT during the treatment episode was not associated with retention in the adolescent/young adult and pregnant women subpopulations. DISCUSSION: From the standpoint of early success, methadone was associated with the lowest risk of treatment discontinuation. While buprenorphine and naltrexone were associated with similar risks at the beginning of treatment, the relative discontinuation risk for buprenorphine was less than half that of naltrexone at one year of retention. In general, BHT with MOUD was associated with a lower risk of treatment discontinuation.

Low-frequency exercise training improves cardiovascular fitness and strength during treatment for breast cancer: a single-arm intervention study.

Aerobic and resistance exercise during and after cancer treatment are important for health-related outcomes, however treatment-specific barriers may inhibit adherence. We explored the effect of lower-frequency exercise training on fitness, body composition, and metabolic markers (i.e. glucose and lipids) in a group of recently diagnosed breast cancer patients. Fifty-two females ≥ 18 years with stage I-IIIB breast cancer were instructed to attend 2 cardiovascular and strength training sessions/week over 12 weeks, but program length was expanded as needed to accommodate missed sessions. Pre- and post-intervention, we measured: (1) cardiovascular fitness, (2) isometric strength, (3) body composition (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), and (4) fasting glucose, insulin, c-peptide, and lipids. Pre-intervention, participants were 53 ± 10 years old (mean ± SD) and overweight (BMI: 27.5 ± 5.4 kg m-2, 40.1 ± 6.5% body fat). Forty participants completed the program over a median 20 weeks (range: 13-32 weeks, median frequency: 1.2 sessions/week), over which predicted VO2peak improved by 7% (2.2[0.1-4.4] mL/kg/min) (delta[95% CI]), and strength increased by 7-9% (right arm: 2.3[0.1-4.5] N m; right leg: 7.9[2.1-13.7] N m; left leg: 7.8[1.9-13.7] N m). Body composition and metabolic markers were unchanged. An exercise frequency of 1.2 sessions/week stimulated significant improvements in fitness, and may represent a practical target for patients during active treatment.

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Overestimates Fat-Free Mass in Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Treatment.

BACKGROUND: Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is commonly used to assess fat-free mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM) in breast cancer patients. However, because of the prevalence of overweight, obesity and variable hydration status in these patients, assumptions for existing prediction equations developed in healthy adults may be violated, resulting in inaccurate body composition assessment. METHODS: We measured whole-body FFM using single-frequency BIA (50 kHz) and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in 48 patients undergoing treatment for breast cancer. We applied raw BIA data to 18 previously published FFM prediction equations (FFMBIA ) and compared these estimates to DXA (FFMDXA ; reference method). RESULTS: On average, patients were 52 ± 10 (mean ± SD) years of age and overweight (body mass index: 27.5 ± 5.5 kg/m2 ; body fat by DXA: 40.1% ± 6.6%). Relative to DXA, BIA overestimated FFM by 4.1 ± 3.4 kg (FFMDXA : 42.0 ± 5.9 kg; FFMBIA : 46.1 ± 3.4 kg). Individual equation-generated predictions of FFMBIA ranged from 39.6 ± 6.7 to 52.2 ± 5.6 kg, with 16 equations overestimating and 2 equations underestimating FFMBIA compared with FFMDXA . Based on equivalence testing, no equation-generated estimates were equivalent to DXA. CONCLUSION: Compared with DXA, BIA overestimated FFM in breast cancer patients during treatment. Although several equations performed better than others, none produced values that aligned closely with DXA. Caution should be used when interpreting BIA measurements in this clinical population, and future studies should develop prediction equations specific to breast cancer patients.