Advisory Committee Chair
Peter S Hendricks
Advisory Committee Members
Karen L Cropsey
Burel Goodin
Connie L Kohler
Scott W Snyder
Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
2015
Degree Name by School
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) School of Public Health
Abstract
Buprenorphine/naloxone (BNT) is a pharmacological treatment for opioid use disorders and is available by prescription in an office-based setting from physicians with specialized training. The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics and behaviors among adults on BNT with the intent to identify the linear combination of variables that account for the differences based on the origins of opioid use. Four opioid user groups were identified a priori: recreational users (RU); self-treaters (ST); medical users misusing (MUM); and medical users not misusing (MU). The dependent variables were mental health and mood, pain and medical problems, internal or external locus, stable or unstable attribution, controllable or uncontrollable attribution, and misuse of opioids. The main study involved four research sites in central Alabama where a total of N=451 questionnaires were collected. Using eight moderately correlated predictor variables, MANOVA was significant (p < .001) and indicated 5.3% of the variance between the groups was explained by the predictor variables. A separate MANOVA was also significant (p = .001) with two moderately correlated predictor variables, indicating 2.5% of the variance between the groups was explained by the two predictor variables. Finally, ANOVA was significant (p < .001) revealing current pain was responsible for 7.1% of the variance in opioid user group membership. DFA using the eight predictor variables was significant (p < .001) and the model explained 15.2% of the variance; however, overall correct classification of group membership was low at 37.9%. A second DFA using the two predictor variables was also significant (p = .001) and this model explained 5.1% of the variance; however, overall correct classification of group membership was also low at 30.6%. The strongest predictors were PEG score, ASI medical score, controllable score, low DASS depression score, and low locus score. Tukey’s HSD post hoc analysis indicated significant differences in pain levels between RU and MU as well as between ST and MU. This study confirmed there were linear combinations of predictor variables that explained opioid group membership. In addition, there were discriminant functions that accounted for the differences in user groups.
Recommended Citation
Gallien, Angela R., "Characteristics and Behaviors based on Introduction to Opioids among Adults in Buprenorphine/Naloxone Treatment" (2015). All ETDs from UAB. 1686.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/1686