Methadone dose and heroin use during maintenance treatment.

A retrospective study examined the association between methadone dose and in-treatment heroin use as measured by fixed-interval urine testing in a cohort of 62 patients admitted to an Australian maintenance program. Urinalysis and methadone dose data were collected on subjects for a maximum two years and were analysed using Zeger & Liang's (1986) method for modelling longitudinal data. While allowing for patient descriptors and the time period in which urine samples were collected, the relative odds of using heroin were reduced by 2% for every 1 mg increase in the maintenance dose of methadone. It is estimated that the odds of patients maintained on 40 mg of methadone using heroin were 2.2 times those of patients maintained on 80 mg.

[1]  J. Jaffe,et al.  A controlled trial of buprenorphine treatment for opioid dependence. , 1992, JAMA.

[2]  J. Bell,et al.  Methadone dosage and retention of patients maintenance treatment , 1991, The Medical journal of Australia.

[3]  P. Selwyn,et al.  Impact of the AIDS epidemic on morbidity and mortality among intravenous drug users in a New York City methadone maintenance program. , 1989, American journal of public health.

[4]  V. Dole.  Methadone treatment and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome epidemic. , 1989, JAMA.

[5]  S. Friedman,et al.  Reducing the risk of AIDS through methadone maintenance treatment. , 1988, Journal of health and social behavior.

[6]  D. Lipton,et al.  The Accuracy of Drug Use Monitoring in Methadone Treatment , 1988 .

[7]  A. Moss.  AIDS and intravenous drug use: the real heterosexual epidemic. , 1987, British medical journal.

[8]  K Y Liang,et al.  Longitudinal data analysis for discrete and continuous outcomes. , 1986, Biometrics.

[9]  B. Learoyd,et al.  A survey of drug usage among patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital , 1985, The Medical journal of Australia.

[10]  M. Anglin,et al.  Long-term Follow-up of Clients of High- and Low-Dose Methadone Programs: Dr McGlothlin died shortly after this article was accepted. For the field and for many colleagues it is a loss that is keenly felt.—ED. , 1981 .

[11]  W. E. Carter,et al.  Restabilization with methadone after methadyl acetate maintenance. , 1980, Archives of general psychiatry.

[12]  R. Newman,et al.  DOUBLE-BLIND COMPARISON OF METHADONE AND PLACEBO MAINTENANCE TREATMENTS OF NARCOTIC ADDICTS IN HONG KONG , 1979, The Lancet.

[13]  H. Kleber,et al.  Comparative validity of random-interval and fixed-interval urinalysis schedules. , 1978, Archives of general psychiatry.

[14]  A. Goldstein,et al.  Is on-site urine testing of therapeutic value in a methadone treatment program? , 1977, The International journal of the addictions.

[15]  C. Klett,et al.  Methadyl acetate and methadone as maintenance treatments for heroin addicts. A veterans administration cooperative study. , 1976, Archives of general psychiatry.

[16]  C. Haertzen,et al.  Methadone--a reevaluation. , 1973, Archives of general psychiatry.

[17]  D. Kleinbaum,et al.  Clinic policy and retention in methadone maintenance. , 1993, The International journal of the addictions.

[18]  L. Poretsky,et al.  Absence of antibody to human immunodeficiency virus in long-term, socially rehabilitated methadone maintenance patients. , 1990, Archives of internal medicine.

[19]  B. Davidow,et al.  Drug abuse patterns of patients on methadone treatment in New York City. , 1981, The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse.

[20]  J. Jaffe,et al.  Further experience with methadone in the treatment of narcotics users. , 1970, The International journal of the addictions.