title: Interest in Extended Release Naltrexone among Opioid Users.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Treatment for addiction to illicit opioids has, thus far, been limited to 2 main approaches: maintaining physical dependence by administering opioids medically and medication-free abstinence with psychosocial support. Assisted abstinence by taking daily tablets with the opioid antagonist naltrexone is rarely practiced, but it is unclear whether this is due to the limited efficacy of this method or because of user opposition to antagonist medication. Therefore, we wanted to investigate opioid users' interest in antagonist treatment with naltrexone, administered as extended release injection, which supports abstinence by blocking illicit opioids for 4-5 weeks per administration.
  
  
  METHODS
  A one-page questionnaire was distributed among opiate users at a broad range of outreach facilities and a total of 731 answered surveys were analysed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More than half of the opioid users in our study were 'very' or 'quite' interested in receiving a 4-weekly opioid-blocking medication for a year (n = 421), while less than a quarter (n = 164) were 'not interested' at all.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We discovered a high user interest for naltrexone treatment, suggesting that the interest for such treatment was not a barrier to the implementation of extended release naltrexone treatment.
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research (SERAF), Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Kamni
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sharma Haase
authors.forename: Nikolaj
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kunøe
authors.forename: Arild
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Opheim
authors.forename: Zhanna
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gaulen
authors.forename: Anne-Lill Mjølhus
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Njå
authors.forename: Zill-E-Huma
authors.initials: ZE
authors.lastname: Latif
authors.forename: Kristin Klemmetsby
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Solli
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tanum
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009271:Naltrexone / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists; D009271:Naltrexone