# Improving Access to Treatment for Women with Opioid Use Disorder

> **NIH NIH R01** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · $137,620

## Abstract

Opioid use, diagnoses of opioid use disorder among pregnant women, and complications from in utero opioid
exposure increased dramatically over the past two decades. Despite evidence that medications for opioid use
disorder are highly effective for preventing adverse outcomes from opioid use disorder, most patients needing
treatment do not receive it with evidence of differential patterns of access for minoritized racial and ethnic
groups compared to non-minoritized groups. Disparities in opioid use disorder treatment and medication
access may intersect with race and ethnicity and pregnancy status for women seeking treatment for opioid use
disorder. Receiving treatment for opioid use disorder during pregnancy is crucial for maternal and infant health
and wellbeing; however, issues of equitable treatment access for racial and ethnically minoritized women
remains understudied. Extending the ongoing NIDA-funded project (R01DA045729), which conducted a
randomized field experiment of pregnant and non-pregnant “secret shoppers” attempting to obtain
appointments at opioid treatment programs or with outpatient buprenorphine providers, this health equity
supplement seeks to determine if non-white patients identified barriers to obtaining an appointment for opioid
use disorder treatment. In addition, we seek to determine if racial concordance was a determining factor in
women’s reported experiences based on secret shoppers’ race/ethnicity matching with community setting of
clinic locations. Explanations of underlying mechanisms of these barriers will be explored using qualitative
data. Leveraging the unique data from the NIDA-funded field experiment, this study will 1) determine if racial
concordance between secret shoppers and the communities that surround clinic locations influenced their
ability to a) obtain an appointment for treatment, b) wait time for treatment, c) out of pocket costs for treatment,
and d) determine if these outcomes varied by pregnancy status and treatment provider type, and 2) explore
secret shoppers’ qualitative descriptions of racial discriminatory encounters and experiences when seeking
treatment and medication at opioid treatment program, either with opioid treatment programs or outpatient
buprenorphine providers, attending to variability based on race/ethnicity and pregnancy status. Data from this
study will inform future studies aimed at mitigating health inequities at the confluence of opioid use disorder,
pregnancy, and race.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10442184
- **Project number:** 3R01DA045729-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Stephen W Patrick
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $137,620
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2023-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10442184

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10442184, Improving Access to Treatment for Women with Opioid Use Disorder (3R01DA045729-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10442184. Licensed CC0.

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