Table 3 Characteristics of included studies
No | Study | Region | Aima | Study Design | Start of Data Collection | End of Data Collection | Q1 Findings (Quant.) | Q2 Findings (Qual.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
S1 | Abidogun et al., 2023b [69] | United States | To explore (1) the impact of COVID-19-related changes to methadone treatment, including increased take-home doses, on patients; and (2) the experience of patients with virtual counselor meetings | Qualitative study | Mar. 2021 | Jun. 2021 | No | Yes |
S2 | Aldabergenov et al., 2022 [70] | United Kingdom (England) | To investigate methadone- and buprenorphine-related deaths in people prescribed and not prescribed OAT after the first COVID-19 lockdown and compare trends to those observed in prior years | Before-and-after study | Jan. 2016 | Jun. 2020 | Yes | No |
S3 | Amram et al., 2021 [71] | United States | To evaluate the effects of a COVID-19-related increase in methadone take-home doses on outcomes for MOUD clients | Before-and-after study | May 2019 | Dec. 2020 | Yes | No |
S4 | Bart et al., 2022 [72] | United States | To explore the impact of COVID-19-related changes to methadone take-home doses on drug use | Before-and-after study | Jul. 2019 | Jul. 2020 | Yes | No |
S5 | Conway et al., 2023 [73] | Australia | To explore how adaptations to OAT provision “impacted and responded to the risk environments of people receiving OAT during the COVID-19 pandemic” (p. 2) | Qualitative study | Aug. 2020 | Dec. 2020 | No | Yes |
S6 | Corace et al., 2022 [74] | Canada | To assess "(1) which patients received additional unsupervised doses during the pandemic; (2) the outcomes of unsupervised dosing [...]; and (3) patients' and prescribers' experiences with changes in OAT care delivery" (p. 2) | Cross-sectional study | Aug. 2020 | Sept. 2020 | Yes | No |
S7 | Cunningham et al., 2022 [75] | United States | To understand how COVID-19-related changes in health care policies and health care delivery impacted buprenorphine treatment outcomes | Cohort study | Mar. 2019 | Dec. 2020 | Yes | No |
S8 | Ezie et al., 2022 [76] | United States | To investigate changes in medication adherence, illicit substance use, rates of infection, and mortality following SAMHSA's relaxation of take-home guidelines for methadone treatment | Before-and-after study | Dec. 2019 | Jun. 2020 | Yes | No |
S9 | Farid et al., 2022 [77] | Bangladesh | NR | Before-and-after study | Jul. 2019 | Mar. 2021 | Yes | No |
S10 | Gage et al., 2022 [78] | Online community (Reddit) | "to investigate the lived experience of PWUD during the COVID-19 pandemic" (p. 1505) | Qualitative study | Mar. 2020 | Jun. 2020 | No | Yes |
S11 | Garg et al., 2022 [79] | Canada | To investigate the impact of COVID-19, [including the] subsequent change in OAT guidance, on OAT discontinuation" (p. 2) | Time series study | Apr. 2019 | Nov. 2020 | Yes | No |
S12 | Gittins et al., 2022 [80] | United Kingdom (England) | To explore over-the-counter and prescription drug misuse among SMS [substance misuse services] clients during COVID-19 | Mixed methods (qualitative/cross-sectional) | Aug. 2020 | Aug. 2021 | No | Yes |
S13 | Gomes et al., 2022 [81] | Canada | "to evaluate whether increased access to take-home doses of OAT related to pandemic specific guidance was associated with changes in treatment retention and opioid-related harms" (p. 847) | Cohort study | Feb. 2020 | NR | Yes | No |
S14 | Harris et al., 2022 [82] | United States | "to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted MOUD and addiction service experiences." (p. 2) | Qualitative study | Aug. 2020 | Oct. 2020 | No | Yes |
S15 | Hoffman et al., 2022 [83] | United States | "to assess patients' responses to the enhanced access to take-home methadone" (p.2) | Mixed methods (qualitative/before-and-after) | Sept. 2019 | Dec. 2020 | Yes | Yes |
S16 | Javakhishvili et al., 2021 [84] | Western Georgia (Eurasia) | To study treatment satisfaction and quality of life among people in opioid substitution therapy (OST) programs in western Georgia [during the COVID-19 pandemic] | Mixed methods (qualitative/cross-sectional) | NR; data collection "during pandemic" | NR; data collection "during pandemic" | Yes | Yes |
S17 | Joseph et al., 2021 [85] | United States | The original research presented in this commentary was conducted "to ascertain outcomes" of new approach to take-home dosing following SAMHSA's relaxation of take-home guidelines for methadone treatment | Before-and-after study | Jan. 2020 | May 2020 | Yes | No |
S18 | Kesten et al., 2021 [86] | United Kingdom | To understand how people who inject drugs experienced COVID-19-related public health measures and changes to opioid substitution treatment and harm reduction services | Qualitative study | Jun. 2020 | Aug. 2020 | No | Yes |
S19 | Krawczyk et al., 2021 [87] | Online community (Reddit) | To explore views on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on various aspects of treatment for opioid use disorder | Qualitative study | Mar. 2020 | NR | No | Yes |
S20 | Levander et al., 2021 [88] | United States | To investigate patients' perceptions of the impact of COVID-19-related changes to take-home methadone policies and to investigate how these changes affected treatment access, recovery, and mental health support for rural patients | Qualitative study | Aug. 2020 | Jan. 2021 | No | Yes |
S21 | Liddell et al., 2021 [89] | United Kingdom (Scotland) | "to provide a baseline of current MAT [medication-assisted treatment] provision, prior to implementation [of new treatment standards], from the perspective of people currently in treatment" (p. 6). [Includes experiences with increased take-home doses during the pandemic] | Mixed methods (qualitative/cross-sectional) | Dec. 2020 | May 2021 | No | Yes |
S22 | Lintzeris et al., 2022 [90] | Australia | To describe COVID-19-related changes to OAT service delivery and to examine changes in patient outcomes following the implementation of the changes | Before-and-after study | Dec. 2019 | Sept. 2020 | Yes | No |
S23 | May et al., 2022 [91] | United Kingdom | To "[investigate] the longer-term impacts of the pandemic on the health and wellbeing [...] of PWID, as well as their experiences of treatment changes from the perspectives of both PWID and service providers" (p. 2) | Qualitative study | May 2021 | Sep. 2021 | No | Yes |
S24 | Meyerson et al., 2022 [92] | United States | "To understand patient experience of federal regulatory changes governing methadone and buprenorphine (MOUD) access in Arizona during the COVID-19 pandemic" (p. 1) | Qualitative study | Aug. 2021 | Oct. 2021 | No | Yes |
S25 | Morin et al., 2021 [93] | Canada | "to present a Canadian perspective on increased fentanyl positive urine drug screen results among OAT patients during the COVID-19 pandemic." (p. 2) | Time series study | Jan. 2020 | Sept. 2020 | Yes | No |
S26 | Nguyen et al., 2021c [94] | United States | "to understand the impact of the expanded eligibility for take-home MOUD dosing, including benefits and unintended consequences" (p. 3) | Mixed methods (qualitative/before-and-after and cohort data) | Jan. 2019 | Dec. 2020 | Yes | Nob |
S27 | Nobles et al., 2021 [95] | Online community (Reddit) | To address the knowledge gap around "the perspectives and experiences of OTP [opioid treatment program] patients during the COVID-19 pandemic [...] we qualitatively examine self-reported impacts to the delivery of MMT." (p. 2135) | Qualitative study | Jan. 2020 | Sept. 2020 | No | Yes |
S28 | Parkes et al., 2021 [96] | United Kingdom (Scotland) | To explore how program staff and PWLLE have experienced COVID-19 related changes to services for people experiencing homelessness and problem substance use | Qualitative study | Apr. 2020 | Aug. 2020 | No | Yes |
S29 | Pilarinos et al., 2022 [97] | Canada | "to identify policy related factors that can be addressed to improve OAT experiences and outcomes among young people, and we provide new insights into how OAT programming can be optimized to meet young peoples' needs and goals." (p. 2). [Includes experiences with COVID-19-related changes to take-home dosing] | Qualitative study | Jan. 2018 | Aug. 2020 | No | Yes |
S30 | Rosic et al., 2022 [98] | Canada | "1. To determine whether opioid use increased, decreased, or remained unchanged during the COVID-19 pandemic for patients already enrolled in MAT; 2. To explore factors associated with a change in the percentage of opioid-positive urine drug screens (UDSs) for patients followed both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic." (p. e258) | Before-and-after study | Jun. 2019 | Nov. 2020 | Yes | No |
S31 | Roy et al., 2023 [99] | United States | To evaluate "national changes in buprenorphine access as a result of COVID-19-related prescribing guideline changes up to one-year post-initial-pandemic period" (p. 2) | Time series study | Feb. 2019 | Apr. 2021 | Yes | No |
S32 | Russell et al., 2021 [100] | Canada | "to understand how service disruptions during COVID-19 may have affected PWUD" (p. 2) | Qualitative study | May 2020 | Jul. 2020 | No | Yes |
S33 | Schofield et al., 2022 [101] | United Kingdom (Scotland) | To explore "the impacts of COVID-19 related changes on the availability and uptake of health and care services, particularly harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and general healthcare services, among PWUD in Scotland during the pandemic" (p. 2) | Qualitative study | May 2020 | Nov. 2020 | No | Yes |
S34 | Scott et al., 2023 [102] | United Kingdom (England) | To investigate how people with OUD experienced changes to substance use treatment during COVID-19 and to explore their views on improving OAT delivery | Qualitative study | NR | NR | No | Yes |
S35 | Suen et al., 2022/Wyatt et al., 2022 [104] | United States | "to describe the MOUD treatment experiences of patients and providers at an OTP [opioid treatment program] in San Francisco, California, to inform [post-COVID-19] research and policy" (p. 1148) | Qualitative study | Aug. 2020 | Nov. 2020 | No | Yes |
S36 | University of Bath et al., 2020, 2021 [106] | England | "to understand how people in receipt of OST [opioid substitution treatment] in rural areas have experienced the pandemic changes [to treatment]." (p. 2) | Qualitative study | NR | Mar. 2021 | No | Yes |
S37 | Vicknasingam et al., 2021 [107] | Malaysia | To evaluate how people who use drugs and service providers adapted to and coped with COVID-19-related public health measures and associated changes to treatment | Qualitative study with before-and-after quantitative data | Dec. 2019 | Aug. 2020 | Yes | Yes |
S38 | Walters et al., 2022 [108] | United States | To examine how COVID-19 and COVID-19 mitigation strategies "affected the lives of people who use drugs in relation to MOUD" (p. 1145) | Qualitative study | Jun. 2020 | Oct. 2020 | No | Yes |
S39 | Watson et al., 2022 [109] | United States | "[to investigate] how individuals with OUD understood and navigated treatment and their personal recoveries during the COVID-19 pandemic" (p. 2) | Qualitative study | Sept. 2020 | Jan. 2021 | No | Yes |
S40 | Zhen-Duan et al., 2022 [110] | United States | "to understand (1) how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted low-income individuals with SUD [substance use disorder] and (2) how people adjusted to SUD treatment changes during stay-at-home orders in NYC [New York City]" (p. 1105) | Qualitative study | Apr. 2020 | Jun. 2020 | No | Yes |