Transfer from methadone to buprenorphine is problematic for many opioid-dependent patients, with limited documented evidence or practical clinical guidance, particularly for the range of methadone doses routinely prescribed for most patients (>50 mg). This study aimed to implement and evaluate recent national Australian guidelines for transferring patients from methadone to buprenorphine.
A multisite prospective cohort study. Participants were patients who transferred from methadone to buprenorphine-naloxone at 1 of 4 specialist addiction centers in Australia and New Zealand. Clinicians were trained in the guidelines, and medical records were reviewed to examine process (eg, transfer setting, doses, and guideline adherence) and safety (precipitated withdrawal) measures. Participants completed research interviews before and after transfer-assessing changes in substance use, health outcomes, and side effects.
In all, 33 participants underwent transfer, 9 from low methadone doses (<30 mg), 9 from medium doses (30-50 mg), and 15 from high doses (>50 mg). The majority of high-dose transfers occurred in inpatient settings. There was reasonable guideline adherence, and no complications identified in the low and medium-dose transfers. Three high-dose transfers (20%) experienced precipitated withdrawal, and 7/33 participants (21%) returned to methadone within 1 week of attempted transfer.
Transfer is feasible in outpatient settings for those transferring from methadone doses below 50 mg; however, inpatient settings and specialist supervision is recommended for higher-dose transfers. The Australian clinical guidelines appear safe and feasible, although further research is required to optimize high-dose transfer procedures.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
3
5%
Other
10
16%
Unknown
18
30%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 22. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 16 October 2025.
All research outputs
#2,078,290
of 32,818,457 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Addiction Medicine
#224
of 1,561 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#33,796
of 364,611 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Addiction Medicine
#8
of 24 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 32,818,457 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 93rd percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,561 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 18.9. This one has done well, scoring higher than 85% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 364,611 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 90% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 24 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 66% of its contemporaries.
