Opioid agonist treatment prevents hundreds of suicides: Study

New research has found opioid agonist treatment (OAT) can reduce risk of suicide by 35% in people with opioid use disorder.
 
According to a new analysis from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), New South Wales’ OAT program prevented an estimated 338 suicide deaths between 2001 and 2020.
 
The study analysed data from 47,000 individuals who received OAT in community and prison settings in NSW between 2001 and 2017.
 
‘Without an OAT program in NSW, we estimate that nearly 960 suicides could have occurred among people with opioid use disorder between 2001 and 2020,’ said the study’s lead author, Dr Thomas Santo Jr, who is an NDARC Postdoctoral Research Fellow.
 
‘Instead, with OAT in place, 338 of these suicides were prevented, leading to a gain of 2704 life-years – highlighting its life-saving impact.’
 
Dr Hester Wilson, a NSW GP and Chair of RACGP Specific Interests Addiction Medicine, welcomed the study’s analysis of the role methadone and buprenorphine play in saving lives.
 
‘It really is, once again, another really strong message that this treatment is lifesaving,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘For the majority of people, once they’re stabilised, it decreases their suicidality, stops them dying from suicide, stops them from developing other issues, helps them get their kids back, get housed, go back and study, go back to work, create the lives that they want to have.’
 
According to the NDARC, global estimates for attempted suicide rates in people with opioid addiction range between 20% and 50%, with around 8% of deaths in this group related to suicide.
 
Dr Santo Jr said the study’s findings highlight the ‘urgent need to expand access to OAT’ both locally and globally.
 
Dr Wilson said the role of GPs in diagnosing opioid dependence and in maintaining access where it may have become disrupted can be lifesaving.
 
‘For us, in general practice, mental health is core to what we do. This is part of mental health, and we need to be thinking about it,’ she said.
 
‘This is a treatment that really works, it makes this incredible difference to their lives.
 
‘The people that I see in the general practice setting are an amazing group of people, the actual prescribing of buprenorphine is really quite easy, as they’re stable.
 
‘The time that I spend with them is around helping with their mental health, with their sexual health, with their women’s health, with their blood pressure, all the things that happen for all the people that we see in general practice.’
 
Dr Santo Jr added that access to OAT could also reduce health inequities in NSW, as vulnerable patient cohorts have disproportionately high rates of opioid use disorder.
 
‘A population-level intervention like OAT can make a substantial difference in preventing suicide among marginalised communities, particularly given the structural and systemic barriers they face in accessing mental health and suicide prevention services,’ he said.
 
If you or anyone you know needs help, you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 for 24/7 crisis support.
 
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