Cluster analysis to identify patient profiles and substance use patterns among pregnant persons with opioid use disorder

• Published in: Addictive behaviors reports 2023-06, Vol.17, p.100484-100484, Article 100484
• Main Authors: Charron, Elizabeth, Yu, Ziji, Lundahl, Brad, Silipigni, John, Okifuji, Akiko, Gordon, Adam J., Baylis, Jacob D., White, Ashley, Carlston, Kristi, Abdullah, Walitta, Haaland, Benjamin, Krans, Elizabeth E., Smid, Marcela C., Cochran, Gerald
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cluster analysis; Opioid use disorder; Perinatal; Pregnancy; Short Communication; Substance use
• ISSN: 2352-8532; 2352-8532
• DOI: 10.1016/j.abrep.2023.100484

•Heterogeneity exists among pregnant people with opioid use disorder (PP-OUD).•Cluster analysis was used to identify clinical/behavioral heterogeneity among PP-OUD.•Two distinct profiles of PP-OUD were identified.•Profiles differed on demographics, psychiatric conditions, and substance use patterns.•Each profile suggests different treatment strategies to optimize management. The study objective was to identify distinct profiles of pregnant persons with opioid use disorder (PP-OUD) using cluster analysis and examine difference in substance use patterns between profiles. We examined data from 104 PP-OUD ≤ 32 weeks of gestation who were recruited into a behavioral health clinical trial at two academic medical centers. We used Partitioning Around Medoids analysis to identify clusters and explored patterns of substance use and substance use treatment between clusters using bivariate statistical tests and regression methods. We identified two distinct clusters of participants, including ‘Group A’ (n = 68; 65.4 %) and ‘Group B’ (n = 36; 34.6 %). Group A had fewer members who were not employed (38 % vs 58 %) and incarcerated (3 % vs 8 %) compared to Group B. Group A compared with Group B included more members with: a history of overdose (72 % vs 50 %); anxiety (85 % vs 25 %); ≥moderate pain (76 % vs 22 %); ≥moderate depression (75 % vs 36 %); ≥moderate drug use severity (94 % vs 78 %); and, more days of cannabis (mean: 6.2 vs 2.3 days), stimulant (mean: 4.5 vs 1.3 days), and injection heroin (mean: 1.3 vs 0 days) use in the past 30 days (P