Forty-eight years of research on psychosocial interventions in the treatment of opioid use disorder: A scoping review

Background: Mapped the sources and types of evidence available on psychosocial interventions in the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD), with and without pharmacotherapies. Methods: Six electronic databases were searched for research published until July 1, 2019. Included studies were coded on publication characteristics, evidence sources, treatment settings and modalities, study populations and patient characteristics, intervention(s) offered to patients, research questions addressed in experimental studies, and outcomes investigated. Results: We identified 305 empirical studies of 54,607 patients. Most studies (64 %; n = 194) compared psychosocial interventions to alternative treatment(s) (183 RCTs and 11 quasi-experiments) while 28 % (n = 86) used observational designs, and 8% (n = 25) used qualitative methods. Trials infrequently investigated effects of stand-alone psychosocial interventions without pharmacotherapies (20% of all RCTs). Regardless of research question or study design, program retention and illicit drug use were the most common outcomes investigated (> 81% of all studies and RCTs), typically among longstanding male heroin users attending specialty outpatient addiction services. Studies rarely examined (a) OUD treatment in general health care or prescription OUD (each < 6 % of all studies and RCTs), (b) effects of social assistance (employment, education, social support) and harm reduction (each < 6 % of studies; < 7 % of RCTs), and (c) health-related quality of life and satisfaction with care (each < 10 % and < 15 % of all studies and RCTs, respectively). Conclusions: Scant evidence is available on the putative rehabilitative effects of psychosocial interventions, either as stand-alone treatments or in an adjunct role to pharmacotherapies.

Automated summary

The study identified a lack of evidence on the rehabilitative effects of psychosocial interventions, either as standalone treatments or in conjunction with pharmacotherapies. Most research focused on comparing psychosocial interventions with alternative treatments, mainly among long-term male heroin users. There is a need for more research on the independent effects of psychosocial interventions, as well as examining different treatment settings and interventions.