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Substance Use Disorder
In Their Own Words
Higher Buprenorphine Doses Help People Stay in Treatment
LDI Fellow Explains Study Findings, Including Racial Disparities in Dosing, and Policy Implications for Philadelphia
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This excerpt is from a Research Brief which originally appeared in The Conversation on March 10, 2026.
Patients who are prescribed higher daily doses of the medication buprenorphine for opioid use disorder are significantly more likely to stay in treatment. Those on 17 to 24 milligrams averaged 190 days in care compared to 90 days for those on 8 milligrams or less. Yet Black patients are less likely than white patients to receive the higher doses.
Those are the key findings of a study my colleagues and I conducted with 5,000 adults enrolled in Medicaid in Philadelphia who are prescribed buprenorphine to treat their opioid use disorder.
I am an Assistant Professor at University of Pennsylvania’s School of Nursing, and my research focuses on improving care and outcomes for people with opioid use disorder.
Buprenorphine is one of the most effective treatments for opioid use disorder. Unlike most opioids, buprenorphine only partially activates opioid receptors, providing enough stimulation to prevent withdrawal and cravings while not causing euphoria. This lowers the risk of overdose.
Buprenorphine also blocks other opioids from binding to opioid receptors and causing euphoric effects. This deters patients from using other opioids while on the medication.
Across the board, patients who received higher doses of buprenorphine – usually 17 to 24 milligrams per day, but sometimes more – stayed in treatment significantly longer than those who started on medium doses of 9 to 16 milligrams, or lower doses of 8 milligrams.
Read the full Research Brief here.
Author
Rachel French, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor, Family and Community Health, Penn Nursing
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