Postpartum medication for opioid use disorder outcomes associated with prenatal treatment and neighborhood-level social determinants.

Background: Opioid use disorder is a leading cause of death through the year postpartum.

Objective: This study aimed to identify the association of neighborhood-level social determinants of health and prenatal opioid use disorder treatment receipt with the outcomes of medication treatment for opioid use disorder through the year postpartum among a cohort of birthing people.

Study Design: This was a population-based retrospective cohort study that used state Medicaid claims and enrollment data for the 1690 individuals who delivered a live infant between July 1, 2016 and December 31, 2020 and received medication for opioid use disorder at delivery. The primary exposure was the state Health Opportunity Index, a composite measure of social determinants of health linked at the census-tract level. Secondary exposures included comprehensiveness of opioid use disorder treatment and duration of medication treatment for opioid use disorder received prenatally. Outcomes included the duration and continuity of postpartum medication treatment for opioid use disorder, operationalized as the time from delivery to the discontinuation of medication treatment for opioid use disorder, and percentage of days covered by medication treatment for opioid use disorder within the 12 months after delivery, respectively.

Results: Within the study sample, 711 deliveries were to birthing people in the lowest state Health Opportunity Index tercile (indicating high burden of negative social determinants of health), 647 in the middle state Health Opportunity Index tercile, and 332 in the highest state Health Opportunity Index tercile. Using stepwise multivariable regression (Cox proportional hazards and negative binomial models) guided by a socioecological framework, prenatal receipt of more comprehensive opioid use disorder treatment and/or longer duration of prenatal medication treatment for opioid use disorder was associated with improved 1-year postpartum opioid use disorder treatment outcomes (duration and continuity of medication treatment for opioid use disorder). When the state Health Opportunity Index was added to the models, these significant associations remained stable, with the state Health Opportunity Index not demonstrating an association with the outcomes (duration hazard ratio, 1.39; 95% confidence interval, 0.551-3.512; continuity relative risk, 1.024; 95% confidence interval, 0.323-3.247).

Conclusion: Targeted efforts at expanding access to and quality of evidence-based opioid use disorder treatments for reproductive-age people across the life course should be prioritized within the spectrum of work aimed at eradicating disparities in pregnancy-related mortality.