Brief versus extended counseling along with buprenorphine/naloxone for HIV-infected opioid dependent patients

Untreated opioid dependence adversely affects HIV outcomes. Integrating buprenorphine/naloxone into HIV treatment settings is feasible; however, the optimal level of counseling has not been established. We conducted a 12-week randomized clinical trial of physician management (PM) versus PM plus enhanced medical management (EMM) in 47 subjects. At 12 weeks, there were no differences between the two groups in percentage of opioid negative urines (63.6% PM vs. 69.0% PM + EMM, p = .5), maximum duration of continuous abstinence (4.9 weeks PM vs. 5.2 weeks PM + EMM, p = .8) or retention (80% PM vs. 59% PM + EMM, p = .1). The percentage of subjects with detectable HIV viral loads decreased from 58% at baseline to 40% at 12 weeks across both groups (p = .02 for time) with no between group differences (p = .84 and p = .27 for the interaction). Providing more extensive counseling beyond PM is feasible in an HIV clinic, but we are unable to detect an improvement in outcomes associated with these services.