AIMS To (i) examine the predictors of mortality in a randomized study of methadone versus buprenorphine maintenance treatment; (ii) compare the survival experience of the randomized subject groups; and (iii) describe the causes of death. DESIGN Ten-year longitudinal follow-up of mortality among participants in a randomized trial of methadone versus buprenorphine maintenance treatment. SETTI...

Binding of methadone in body tissues limits the rise in plasma concentration and prolongs the pharmacological action in patients receiving a daily maintenance dose. An opiate with equal intrinsic activity but greater binding affinity would, therefore, be a better drug than methadone for maintenance treatment; it would be safer when taken in a single dose and longer in its duration of action whe...

Methadone maintenance has been the treatment of choice for heroin addiction for several years. The prenatal and early neonatal effects have been described in several reports (Kandall et al. 1979; Finnegan 1983). However, there have been few reports on the longterm effects of methadone maintenance during pregnancy on the child’s somatic and neurobehavioral development. Some investigators have de...

Background‎: The relationship between substance use and sleep is bidirectional. Substance use directly causes sleep disturbances, and sleep problems are a critical factor in substance-use relapse. Methods: This study evaluated sleep disorders in 65 methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) patients, and 61 opium-dependent patients who did not receive any treatment between September 2011 and July 20...

BACKGROUND Heroin-assisted treatment has been found to be effective for people with severe opioid dependence who are not interested in or do poorly on methadone maintenance. AIMS To study heroin-assisted treatment in people on methadone who continue intravenous heroin and in those who are heroin dependent but currently not in treatment. METHOD In an open-label multicentre randomised control...

We examine the impact of transfers between methadone treatment prescribing physicians on 1-year retention. Episode data (n=13,359; 1996 to 2001) drawn from a Canadian population-based methadone registry were analysed using a binary logistic regression model. The odds ratios for remaining in treatment for 365 days or more decreased for repeated episodes of treatment, but increased with age and n...

BACKGROUND Several types of medications have been used for stabilizing heroin users: Methadone, Buprenorphine and levo-alpha-acetyl-methadol (LAAM.) The present review focuses on the prescription of heroin to heroin-dependent individuals. OBJECTIVES To compare heroin maintenance to methadone or other substitution treatments for opioid dependence regarding: efficacy and acceptability, retainin...

BACKGROUND Although diacetylmorphine has been proven to be more effective than methadone maintenance treatment for opioid dependence, its direct costs are higher. We compared the cost-effectiveness of diacetylmorphine and methadone maintenance treatment for chronic opioid dependence refractory to treatment. METHODS We constructed a semi-Markov cohort model using data from the North American O...