Comparative drug use and psychosocial profiles of opioid dependents applying for medication versus medication-free treatment.
Drug treatment-seeking abusers generally self-select their treatment modality. Most opioid-dependent individuals select either methadone maintenance or detoxification followed by medication-free outpatient treatment. This study examined demographic, drug use, and drug abuse treatment history for opioid dependent patients entering an opioid agonist (n = 203) or a medication-free (n = 155) treatment program located on the same hospital campus. Similar demographic profiles support the assertion that samples were drawn from the same inner city urban opioid using population. Patients entering drug-free treatment, however, reported more extensive prior use of both cocaine and alcohol. Further, these patients had a generally more severe profile of psychosocial problems in medical, legal, employment, family/social, and psychiatric areas as measured by the Addiction Severity Index (ASI). These findings suggest that outpatient drug-free programs enrolling opioid abusers are faced with a unique service delivery challenge that involves service needs in multiple arenas. The findings further suggest that patient self-selection of treatment programs may in some cases result in a discrepancy between patient needs and the ability of treatment programs to retain patients and deliver an appropriate array of services.
Cumberbatch
Zulema
Z
Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Copersino
Marc
M
Stitzer
Maxine
M
Jones
Hendrée
H
D000328:Adult; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008658:Inactivation, Metabolic; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D008691:Methadone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008875:Middle Aged; D009294:Narcotics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011584:Psychology; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D009294:Narcotics; D008691:Methadone