128 - Pilot Interventional Program for Youth with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) in a Texas Metropolitan Area, Young HEROES

Publication Number: 128.6223

Irma Ugalde, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Angela J. Nash, Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston, Houston, TX, United States; Andrea J. Yatsco, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States; Audrey S. Cohen, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States; Tiffany Champagne-Langabeer, UT Health Houston, Center for Behavioral Emergency and Addiction Research, Houston, TX, United States; James R. Langabeer, McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States

Background:

Background: Nearly 15,000 children present nationwide to Emergency Departments (EDs) for opioid-related diagnoses each year, and in the last two decades, overdose deaths among youth aged 14–18 years increased nearly 300%. Approximately 90% of deaths involved opioids, with 84% involving fentanyl. Medications for OUD (MOUD) combined with behavioral treatments are the standard of care because they improve treatment retention and other health outcomes. They are recommended by multiple professional bodies, yet few programs exist and only 1.6% of youth who survive an overdose receive MOUD.

Objective:

Objective: To assess the feasibility of implementing a comprehensive bridge treatment program consisting of suboxone, substance use counseling and peer coaching by peer recovery support specialists for community youth with OUD in a Texas metro area.

Design/Methods: Methods: We enrolled a convenience sample of patients ages 13-17 from 07/2021 to 10/2024 with reported OUD. Youth were offered care management, including evaluation by a nurse practitioner, behavioral counseling, peer coaching, and suboxone. We analyzed patient descriptive statistics.

Results:

Results: We enrolled 30 patients, ages 13-17 from 7/2021 through 10/2024. Patients were referred from the Emergency Department, 3 (10%); emergency medical services, 2 (7%), local high school, 4 (13%), and other community organizations, 20 (67%). Table 1 presents patient characteristics; Figure 1 shows the patient geospatial representation. Median days in treatment were 115.5 days, with 19 (63%) receiving suboxone prescriptions. Median scripts, when written, was 4.5 (IQR 1-9). Twenty-eight (93%) received counseling and peer support. The mean number of counseling and coaching sessions was 7.7 per patient (SD 5.3). No subsequent overdoses were reported after enrollment. Recruitment was challenging with half of the enrollments occurring post-February 2024 after adding numerous community partnerships. Other barriers included familial support, distance, local practice patterns, and the need for higher level of residential care at times with disallowance of MOUDs.

Conclusion(s):

Conclusions: For this pilot, treatment retention and engagement were positive, and subsequent overdose risk was minimal. However, despite the availability of comprehensive services, participants faced multiple access barriers to the full spectrum of evidence-based treatments including social determinants and the lack of an infrastructure to support ongoing treatments outside the program.

Patient Demographics


Geospatial Outreach