Opioid‐specific medication‐assisted therapy and its impact on criminal justice and overdose outcomes
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-7-2022
Publication Title
Campbell Systematic Reviews
Volume
18
Issue
1
Pages
1-28
Publisher Name
John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Abstract
Background
The overlap between justice system involvement and drug use is well-documented. Justice-involved people who misuse opioids are at high risk for relapse and criminal recidivism. Criminal justice policymakers consider opioid-specific medication-assisted therapies (MATs) one approach for improving outcomes for this population. More research is needed that explores the impacts of opioid-specific MATs for justice-involved people.
Objectives
This study sought to assess the effects of opioid-specific MAT for reducing the frequency and likelihood of criminal justice and overdose outcomes for current or formerly justice-involved individuals.
Search Methods
Records were searched between May 7, 2021 and June 23, 2021. We searched a total of sixteen proprietary and open access databases that included access to gray literature and conference proceedings. The bibliographies of included studies and relevant reviews were also searched.
Selection Criteria
Studies were eligible for inclusion in the review if they: (a) assessed the effects of opioid-specific MATs on individual-level criminal justice or overdose outcomes; included (b) a current or formerly justice-involved sample; and (c) a randomized or strong quasi-experimental design; and c) were published in English between January 1, 1960 and October 31, 2020.
Data Collection and Analysis
We used the standard methodological procedures as expected by The Campbell Collaboration.
Main Results
Twenty studies were included, representing 30,119 participants. The overall risk of bias for the experimental studies ranged from “some” to “high” and for quasi-experimental studies ranged from “moderate” to “serious.” As such, findings must be interpreted against the backdrop of less-than-ideal methodological contexts. Of the 20 included studies, 16 included outcomes that were meta-analyzed using mean log odds ratios (which were reported as mean odds ratios). Mean effects were nonsignificant for reincarceration (odds ratio [OR] = 0.93 [0.68, 1.26], SE = .16), rearrest (OR = 1.47 [0.70, 3.07], SE = 0.38), and fatal overdose (OR = 0.82 [0.56, 1.21], SE = 0.20). For nonfatal overdose, the average effect was significant (OR = 0.41 [0.18, 0.91], SE = 0.41, p < 0.05), suggesting that those receiving MAT had nearly 60% reduced odds of a nonfatal overdose.
Implications for Policy, Practice, and Research
The current review supports some utility for adopting MAT for the treatment of justice-involved people with opioid addiction, however, more studies that employ rigorous methodologies are needed. Researchers should work with agencies to improve adherence to medication regimens, study design, and collect more detailed information on participants, their criminal and substance use histories, onset, and severity. This would help clarify whether treatment and control groups are indeed comparable and provide better insight into the potential reasons for participant dropout, treatment failure, and the occurrence of recidivism or overdose. Outcomes should be assessed in multiple ways, if possible (e.g., self-report and official record), as reliance on official data alone may undercount participants' degree of criminal involvement.
Recommended Citation
Strange, C. Clare; Manchak, Sarah M.; Hyatt, Jordan M.; Petrich, Damon M.; Desai, Alisha; and Haberman, Cory P.. Opioid‐specific medication‐assisted therapy and its impact on criminal justice and overdose outcomes. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 18, 1: 1-28, 2022. Retrieved from Loyola eCommons, Criminal Justice & Criminology: Faculty Publications & Other Works, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1215
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s), 2022.
Comments
Author Posting © The Author(s), 2022. This article is posted here by permission of John Wiley & Sons Ltd for personal use and redistribution. This article was published open access in Campbell Systematic Reviews, Vol. 18, Iss. 1. (March 2022), https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1215.