Drug use, HIV-related risk behaviors and dropout status of new admissions and re-admissions to methadone treatment

Deren, Sherry; Goldstein, Marjorie F.; Des Jarlais, Don C.; Richman, Beverly L.; Kang, Sung-Yeon; Flom, Peter L.

« Previous Next »Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment
Volume 20, Issue 2 , Pages 185-189, March 2001

Drug use, HIV-related risk behaviors and dropout status of new admissions and re-admissions to methadone treatment

Sherry Deren, Ph.D.
- National Development and Research Institutes, Inc., Two World Trade Center, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10048, USA
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-212-845-4463; fax: +1-212-845-4698
Marjorie F. Goldstein, Ph.D.
- National Development and Research Institutes, Inc., Two World Trade Center, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10048, USA
Don C. Des Jarlais, Ph.D.
- National Development and Research Institutes, Inc., Two World Trade Center, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10048, USA
- Beth Israel Medical Center, Chemical Dependency Institute, New York, NY 10003, USA
Beverly L. Richman, M.D.
- Beth Israel Medical Center, Methadone Maintenance Program, New York, NY 10003, USA
Sung-Yeon Kang, Ph.D.
- National Development and Research Institutes, Inc., Two World Trade Center, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10048, USA
Peter L. Flom, Ph.D.
- National Development and Research Institutes, Inc., Two World Trade Center, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10048, USA

Received 16 December 1999; received in revised form 4 August 2000; accepted 25 August 2000.

Abstract

New entrants to methadone maintenance treatment programs (MMTP) have been reported to have different drug use patterns than re-admissions. This study assesses differences between 211 re-admissions and 128 new admissions to a NYC MMTP. Those new to MMTP were found to be less likely to have ever injected drugs, have used more types of drugs, and used heroin at higher frequencies in the 30 days prior to admission. Within the first three months of treatment, new admissions dropped out at a higher rate than the re-admissions (31% vs. 20%, p<0.05). The most frequent reasons for dropout, for both groups, included “lost to contact” and incarceration. Further research on strategies to address polydrug use of MMTP admissions is needed. Efforts to identify concerns of new admissions early in treatment, and programs to continue drug treatment services to incarcerated clients, are indicated.

Keywords: Methadone, Drug abuse treatment, Heroin addiction