title: Methadone maintenance treatment may improve completion rates and delay opioid relapse for opioid dependent individuals under community corrections supervision.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Several studies have demonstrated the importance of agonist therapies such as methadone and buprenorphine for preventing relapse for individuals being released from jail or prison to the community. No studies have examined the impact of methadone for increasing the completion of community supervision requirements and preventing opioid relapse for individuals under community corrections supervision. This observational study compared the community corrections completion rate and opioid relapse rate of individuals receiving methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) to individuals who did not.
  
  
  METHODS
  Of the 2931 individuals enrolled under criminal justice supervision in the community, Treatment Accountability for Safer Communities (TASC), and who met criteria for opioid dependence, 329 (11%) individuals reported receiving MMT in the community.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of participants were White (79.8%) and male (63.5%), with a mean age of 31.33years (SD=9.18), and were under supervision for 10.4months (SD=9.1). MMT participants were less likely to fail out of supervision compared to individuals not in MMT (39.0% vs. 52.9%, p<0.001), and had a lower rate of relapse (32.9%) and longer time to relapse (average days=89.7, SD=158.9) compared to the relapse rate (55.9%) and time to relapse (average days=60.5, SD=117.9) of those not on MMT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While the observational nature of this study prevents causal inferences, these results suggest that utilization of MMT in community corrections may increase the likelihood of completing supervision requirements and delay time to opioid relapse. Providing agonist therapies to opioid dependent individuals under supervision appears to be a critical strategy in this important population.
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Psychiatry and Neurobiology, United States.
authors.forename: C Brendan
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Health Behavior, United States.
authors.forename: Peter S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Hendricks
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Psychiatry and Neurobiology, United States.
authors.forename: Peter S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Lane
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Psychiatry and Neurobiology, United States.
authors.forename: Lindsay
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Trent
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Psychiatry and Neurobiology, United States.
authors.forename: Karen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Cropsey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003416:Criminal Law / Q000379:methods; D057237:Criminals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008691:Methadone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D058850:Opiate Substitution Treatment / Q000379:methods*; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012008:Recurrence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D008691:Methadone
keywords: Methadone maintenance treatment; Opiates; Opioid; Opioid dependence; Relapse