The results of the Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative were published in the New England Journal of Medicine on June 16. A total of 67 communities in Kentucky, New York, Massachusetts and Ohio participated in the study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Each community implemented more than 600 evidence-based strategies for preventing opioid overdoses and deaths.
The study found no meaningful difference in rates of opioid-related deaths in communities that implemented the strategies from those that did not.
“In retrospect, the prespecified 40% reduction in opioid-related overdose deaths was clearly ambitious,” the study’s authors wrote.
A few factors could have contributed to the results of the study. Communities had only 10 months to get evidence-based strategies in place, which may not have allowed sufficient time for all communities to implement some strategies, the authors wrote.
The study also launched in January 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic likely had a significant effect on the implementation of some evidence-based interventions. Finally, fentanyl and xylazine became more prevalent in the illegal drug market during the time of the study, complicating the effectiveness of some interventions, the authors wrote.
Read the full study here.