The dyadic association between patient overdose risk and family attitudes towards medications for opioid use disorder

This baseline dyadic study of 219 patients receiving buprenorphine and their support persons (SPs) across five California clinics found that greater SP familiarity with MOUD was associated with lower patient opioid overdose risk, while SP belief that opioid use should be stopped without medication was linked to higher patient overdose risk. Findings suggest that increasing MOUD familiarity and reducing stigma among support persons may help lower overdose risk in patients with OUD.