Medication for opioid use disorder at hospital discharge is not associated with intravenous antibiotic completion in post-acute care facilities.

BACKGROUND

People with opioid use disorder and severe infections may complete their prolonged courses of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy at a post-acute care facility due to adherence and safety concerns. We hypothesized that treatment with medications for opioid use disorder, such as methadone and buprenorphine, would increase antibiotic completion in these facilities.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective cohort study of people with opioid use disorder and severe infections who were discharged from the University of Maryland Medical Center to a post-acute care facility to complete intravenous antibiotic therapy. The primary outcome was completion of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy. We compared the rate of antibiotic completion between patients prescribed and not prescribed medication for opioid use disorder at discharge from the acute care hospital.

RESULTS

A total of 161 patient encounters were included; the mean age was 43.4 years and 56% of patients were male. In 48% of the encounters, the patient was homeless and in 68% they recently injected drugs. The most common infectious syndrome was osteoarticular (44.1%). Medication for opioid use disorder was prescribed at discharge in 103 of 161 encounters and was newly started in 27 encounters. Similar rates of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy completion were found in those who received (65/103) and did not receive (33/58) medication for opioid use disorder at discharge (odds ratio: 1.29; 95% confidence interval: 0.68-2.54; p = 0.44).

CONCLUSION

Medication for opioid use disorder prescription at discharge was not associated with completion of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy in a post-acute care facility. Our study is limited by possible selection bias and infrequent initiation of medication for opioid use disorder, which may have minimized the effect on antibiotic completion.