title: Self-injurious behavior and the efficacy of naltrexone treatment: a quantitative synthesis.
abstract: People with mental retardation, autism, and related developmental disabilities who self-injure are treated with a wide array of behavioral techniques and psychotropic medications. Despite numerous reports documenting short-term and some long-term changes in self-injury associated with the opiate antagonist naltrexone hydrochloride, no quantitative review of its efficacy has been reported. We conducted a quantitative synthesis of the peer-reviewed published literature from 1983 to 2003 documenting the use of naltrexone for the treatment of self-injurious behavior (SIB). Individual-level results were analyzed given subject and study characteristics. A sample of 27 research articles involving 86 subjects with self-injury was reviewed. Eighty percent of subjects were reported to improve relative to baseline (i.e., SIB reduced) during naltrexone administration and 47% of subjects SIB was reduced by 50% or greater. In studies reporting dose levels in milligrams, males were more likely than females to respond. No significant relations were found between treatment outcomes and autism status or form of self-injury. Results are discussed with respect to future efficacy work related to study outcomes and the pharmacological treatment of self-injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA. symon007@umn.edu
authors.forename: Frank J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Symons
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009271:Naltrexone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012737:Sex Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D009271:Naltrexone