Treating opioid use disorder significantly lowers the very high rate (8 times the general population) of suicide among people with opioid dependence.
A Scottish study led by Glasgow Caledonian University of over 45,000 patients receiving methadone or buprenorphine for opioid use disorder reported this important result today in the scientific journal Addiction.
There were 575 suicides among the group of 46,453 people with opioid use disorder, accounting for 1.2% of the group. Although every member of the group received an OAT prescription at some point between 2011 and 2020, some of those suicides occurred during periods when people were not in receipt of an OAT prescription. The study assumed that every suicide that occurred more than 60 days after the person received an OAT prescription would have happened while the person was not on drug treatment for opioid dependence.
When researchers divided the 575 suicide deaths into those occurring while the person was on OAT versus those committed while the person was no longer on OAT, they found that the rate of suicide for people not on OAT was more than three times higher than the rate for people on OAT. [See figure.]
Lead author and researcher at Glasgow Caledonian University Rosalyn Fraser comments, "People with opioid dependence in Scotland are at much higher risk of suicide than the general population. But there is strong evidence that suicide rates are lower among people receiving methadone or buprenorphine. OAT helps people access other support services, stabilises drug use, and provides opportunities to build therapeutic relationships and reduce isolation. It's very important to get people with opioid dependence into drug treatment to reduce their suicide risk."
Senior author and Glasgow Caledonian University Professor in Public Health Andrew McAuley added, "In Scotland, trends in suicide in people who are opioid dependent declined during a period where overdose deaths more than doubled. Importantly, retention in opioid agonist treatment is a critical intervention both for suicide and opioid overdose prevention strategies."
This Open Access article is available on the Wiley Online Library (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.16680) or you may request a copy from Jean O'Reilly, Editorial Manager, Addiction, [email protected].
To speak with senior author Professor Andrew McAuley, please contact him at Glasgow Caledonian University via e-mail ([email protected]) or through Glasgow Caledonian's senior communications officer Janice Burns ([email protected]) or call 07527 401952.
Full citation for article: Fraser R, Yeung A, Glancy M, Hickman M, Jones HE, Priyadarshi S, Horsburgh K, Hutchinson SJ, and McAuley A. Suicide in people prescribed opioid-agonist therapy (OAT) in Scotland, UK, 2011-2020: a national retrospective cohort study. Addiction. 2024. DOI: 10.1111/add.16680
Primary funding: Scottish Government Drug Deaths Taskforce.
Declaration of interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Addiction (www.addictionjournal.org) is a monthly international scientific journal publishing peer-reviewed research reports on alcohol, substances, tobacco, gambling, editorials, and other debate pieces. Owned by the Society for the Study of Addiction, it has been in continuous publication since 1884.