Self-perceived health among Canadian opiate users: a comparison to the general population and to other chronic disease populations.
BACKGROUND
There are an estimated 40,000 to 90,000 injection opiate users in Canada. The social, economic and health consequences of opiate addiction have been well documented. However, there are no data on the self-perceived health status of opiate users in Canada. Therefore, the goal of this research is to gain an understanding of the self-perceived health status of opiate users by comparing the health-related quality of life of opiate users to chronic disease populations and to the general population.


METHODS
The SF-36 was administered to a nonrandom sample of 143 opiate users entering low-threshold methadone treatment. Two sample t-tests were performed to assess statistical differences, at a 5% level of significance, between population scores across SF-36 dimensions.


RESULTS
Opiate users perceived both their mental and physical health as worse than the general population and individuals with minor and serious medical problems, but comparable to those with diagnosed psychiatric illnesses.


CONCLUSIONS
Methadone treatment services should incorporate both primary care and psychiatric care into their programs, or at the very least secure appropriate referral mechanisms to ancillary services to ensure that the health concerns of opiate users are dealt with in the context of their treatment program.
Millson
Peggy E
PE
Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto, ON. p.millson@utoronto.ca
Challacombe
Laurel
L
Villeneuve
Paul J
PJ
Fischer
Benedikt
B
Strike
Carol J
CJ
Myers
Ted
T
Shore
Ron
R
Hopkins
Shaun
S
Raftis
Sara
S
Pearson
Mary
M
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008691:Methadone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D008691:Methadone