PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Tilbrook, Devon
AU  - Jacob, Jeffrey
AU  - Parsons, Pierre
AU  - Edwards, Craig
AU  - Loewen, Kassandra
AU  - Kelly, Len
TI  - Opioid use disorder and type 2 diabetes mellitus
DP  - 2017 Jul 01
TA  - Canadian Family Physician
PG  - e350--e354
VI  - 63
IP  - 7
4099  - http://www.cfp.ca/content/63/7/e350.short
4100  - http://www.cfp.ca/content/63/7/e350.full
SO  - Can Fam Physician2017 Jul 01; 63
AB  - Objective To measure the effect of buprenorphine-naloxone as opioid substitution therapy on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and opioid use disorder.Design Retrospective cohort study and secondary data analysis.Setting Northwestern Ontario.Participants Patients with diabetes receiving opioid substitution therapy, as well as patients with diabetes only, who live in 6 remote First Nations communities.Main outcome measures Glycated hemoglobin A1c values during a 2-year time period in the 2 groups.Results Over a 2-year period, there was an absolute decrease of 1.20% in mean glycated hemoglobin A1c values in patients with diabetes who also received opioid substitution therapy, compared with patients with diabetes who were not being treated for opioid dependence, whose values rose by 0.02%.Conclusion Patients with diabetes who also suffer from opioid use disorder achieve significant (P = .011) improvement in glycemic control when treated with buprenorphine-naloxone substitution therapy compared with other patients with diabetes. Treating opioid use disorder with buprenorphine-naloxone substitution therapy has an unintended positive effect on diabetes management.