Adding Online Group Mindfulness Sessions to Medication Treatment Reduces Opioid Craving in People With Opioid Use Disorder

Adding Online Group Mindfulness Sessions to Medication Treatment Reduces Opioid Craving in People With Opioid Use Disorder https://www.nccih.nih.gov/research/research-results/adding-online-group-mindfulness-sessions-to-medication-treatment-reduces-opioid-craving-in-people-with-opioid-use-disorder?nav=govd Adding an online group mindfulness intervention to a standard treatment for opioid use disorder was similar to adding an online evidence-based recovery support program when it came to reducing illicit opioid use, other substance use, and anxiety, but the mindfulness intervention resulted in greater reductions in opioid craving, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open. The study was conducted by researchers at the Cambridge Health Alliance, McLean Hospital, Harvard University, and Tufts University and partially funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health through the Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative or NIH HEAL Initiative® Behavioral Research to Improve Medication-Based Treatment (BRIM) program. Treatment with the medication buprenorphine in people with opioid use disorder reduces illicit opioid use and the risk for opioid overdose, but research shows that most patients stop buprenorphine treatment—considered the first-line treatment for opioid use disorder—within 6 months. Risk factors for treatment dropout or opioid relapse in people receiving buprenorphine include an additional substance use disorder, anxiety, and residual opioid craving. The findings from the new study suggest that group mindfulness training sessions may help people who are receiving buprenorphine maintenance therapy and struggling with residual opioid craving.