Abstract
Through improved adherence, once-monthly injectable extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX) may provide an advantage over other oral agents approved for alcohol and opioid dependence treatment. The objective of this study was to evaluate cost and utilization outcomes between XRNTX and other pharmacotherapies for treatment of alcohol and opioid dependence. Published studies were identified through comprehensive search of two electronic databases. Studies were included if they compared XR-NTX to other approved medicines and reported economic and healthcare utilization outcomes in patients with opioid or alcohol dependence. We identified five observational studies comparing 1,565 patients using XR-NTX to other therapies over six months.
Alcohol dependent XR-NTX patients had longer medication refill persistence versus acamprosate and oral naltrexone. Healthcare utilization and costs was generally lower or as low for XR-NTXtreated
patients relative to other alcohol dependence agents. Opioid dependent XR-NTX patients had lower inpatient substance abuse-related utilization versus other agents and $8170 lower total cost versus methadone.
read complete article http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24854219
