Opioid use, substance use, and anxiety similar for those receiving buphrenorphine and participating in mindfulness-based versus recovery support groups<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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WEDNESDAY, Jan. 29, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For adults with opioid use disorder (OUD) receiving buprenorphine, a mindfulness-based group is similar to a recovery support group for opioid use, substance use, and reductions in anxiety, but demonstrates a larger reduction in craving, according to a study published online Jan. 21 in JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n Zev Schuman-Olivier, M.D., from Cambridge Health Alliance in Malden, Massachusetts, and colleagues compared the effects of the Mindful Recovery Opioid Use Disorder Care Continuum (M-ROCC) versus active control among adults receiving buprenorphine for OUD in a randomized clinical trial. The M-ROCC program was a 24-week motivationally adaptive, trauma-informed, mindfulness-based group curriculum; each week, participants attended an informal check-in and intervention. The recovery support control group curriculum used four evidence-based substance use disorder-focused nonmindfulness approaches.<\/p>\n The study included 196 participants. The researchers found that opioid use did not differ significantly between the groups (13.4 and 12.7 percent in the M-ROCC and recovery support groups, respectively); no significant differences were seen in cocaine or benzodiazepine use. Across both M-ROCC and recovery support groups, anxiety T scores were reduced, with no significant difference observed between the groups from baseline to week 24. Compared with recovery support group participants, the M-ROCC participants demonstrated a significantly larger reduction in opioid craving.<\/p>\n “The study suggests that mindfulness-based groups may be particularly useful for reducing craving among patients with OUD who are experiencing residual opioid craving during buprenorphine treatment,” the authors write.<\/p>\n One author disclosed ties to Alkermes.<\/p>\n