A mixed-method comparison of physician-reported beliefs about and barriers to treatment with medications for opioid use disorder

Table 2 Comparison of Provider-Perceived Efficacy of Extended-Release Naltrexone vs. Methadone. Detailed Table Summary: Respondents believed that methadone, to a greater degree than extended-release naltrexone, decreases opioid cravings (paired t [38]=3.759, p = 0.000), decreases risk of fatal opioid-overdose death (paired t [40]=2.349, p = 0.023), decreases return to opioid misuse (paired t [39]=2.780, p = 0.008), and works well in patients with co-occurring mental health disorders (paired t [39]=2.322, p = 0.024)

Perceptions	Methadone		Naltrexone		t	df	Mean of the Difference	Cohen’s d	95% Confidence Interval		p
Perceptions	n	Mean (SD)	n	Mean (SD)	t	df	Mean of the Difference	Cohen’s d	Lower	Upper	p
MOUD decreases risk of death from opioid overdose	51	4.078 (0.935)	51	3.745 (0.913)	−2.349	50	− 0.333	0.360	− 0.618	− 0.048	0.023*
MOUD decreases cravings for opioids	52	4.308 (0.853)	52	3.577 (1.126)	−3.759	51	−0.731	0.732	−1.121	− 0.341	0.000*
MOUD decreases rates of relapse	50	4.200 (0.808)	50	3.820 (0.774)	−2.780	49	−0.380	0.480	−0.655	− 0.105	0.008*
MOUD works well in patients with co-occurring mental health disorders	50	4.200 (0.857)	50	3.780 (0.954)	−2.322	49	−0.420	0.463	−0.784	− 0.057	0.024*
MOUD should be supplemented by mental health counseling	55	4.527 (0.790)	55	4.382 (0.850)	−1.343	54	−0.146	0.177	−0.363	0.072	0.185
MOUD should be supplemented by participation in peer support groups	56	4.304 (0.933)	56	4.179 (1.046)	−1.475	55	−0.125	0.126	−0.295	0.045	0.146
MOUD efficacy is improved by adding mental health counseling	55	4.309 (1.052)	55	4.418 (0.832)	0.973	54	0.109	0.115	−0.116	0.334	0.335

Notes: MOUD medication for opioid use disorder. Questions asked about the MOUDs extended-release naltrexone and methadone were compared using paired samples t- tests (alpha = 0.05, two-tailed level). * indicates significance at the α = .05 level

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