title: Effectiveness of drug tests in outpatients starting opioid substitution therapy.
abstract: We aimed to assess the effectiveness of drug tests for treatment retention in outpatients starting opioid substitution therapy. A retrospective cohort was created from the data of the French health insurance system database for the Midi-Pyrenees region. Patients starting opioid substitution treatment (OST) were included and followed for 18 to 30 months. Two groups of patients were defined: the drug test group (at least one drug test reimbursement) and a control group (no drug test reimbursement). The cohort included 1507 patients. During follow-up, 39 subjects (2.6%) had at least one drug test reimbursement. Mean treatment retention was 207 days in the control group and 411 days in the drug test group (p < 0.001). With a multivariate Cox model, drug tests were associated with treatment retention: hazard ratio 0.55 (95% CI: 0.38-0.80). Use of a drug test in follow-up of opioid substitution treatment, although rarely prescribed, significantly improved treatment retention.
authors: Département Universitaire de Médecine Générale, Université de Toulouse, Faculté de Médecine, 133 route de Narbonne, 31063 Toulouse, France. julie.dupouy@univ-tlse3.fr
authors: Julie
authors: J
authors: Dupouy
authors: Lise
authors: L
authors: Dassieu
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Bourrel
authors: Jean-Christophe
authors: JC
authors: Poutrain
authors: Serge
authors: S
authors: Bismuth
authors: Stéphane
authors: S
authors: Oustric
authors: Maryse
authors: M
authors: Lapeyre-Mestre
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D058850:Opiate Substitution Treatment / Q000379:methods*; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010045:Outpatients; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult