BACKGROUND We previously found a five cluster of psychological symptoms in heroin use disorder (HUD) patients: 'worthlessness-being trapped', 'somatic-symptoms', 'sensitivity-psychoticism', 'panic-anxiety', and 'violence-suicide'. We demonstrated that this aggregation is independent of the chosen treatment, of intoxication status and of the presence of psychiatric problems. METHODS 2314 Subje...

BACKGROUND The interaction of the association of dopamine genes, impulsivity and childhood trauma with substance abuse remains unclear. OBJECTIVES To clarify the impacts and the interactions of the Catechol -O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene, impulsivity and childhood trauma on the age of onset of heroin use among heroin dependent patients in China. METHODS 202 male and 248 female inpatients ...

BACKGROUND The commencement of methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) in 2005 represents a quantum leap in the management of heroin dependence in Malaysia. OBJECTIVE To examine the 2-year outcomes of this modality in the treatment of heroin dependence with respect to the quality of life (QOL), heroin abstinence, and rate of employment among heroin dependants attending the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hos...

BACKGROUND Little is known about differences between the characteristics and psychopathological symptoms of heroin users attending TC or MMT in Asia. This study aimed to compare characteristics and prevalence of depressive disorders among male heroin users in TC and MMT program in Nantou, Taiwan. METHODS The study sample (n = 705) comprised male heroin users with heroin dependence recruited f...

The use of heroin in Australia results in disproportionate harm. Although the evidence suggests that a relatively low proportion of the population aged 14 years and over have ever used (1.4%) heroin or have used it in the past 12 months (0.2%), heroin use remains a significant cause of death, injury, illness and social harm. Research demonstrates that being in treatment leads to less heroin use...

BACKGROUND The Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS) is a five-item scale that has been reported to be a reliable and valid screening instrument for dependence in several types of substances. Optimal cutoff points on the SDS indicative of clinically significant dependence have been determined for a large range of substance types, however, to date no data have been reported on its performance in a ...

conclusions reasons associated with initial and continued co-use of heroin kerack with ma, factors associated with treatment entry and the differences between regular and recreational co-users should be specifically considered in designing and tailoring drug use treatment programs for this group. materials and methods 82 clients were randomly recruited. a researcher-designed questionnaire was u...

Background: Breastfeeding is one of the best ways to promote, develop, and secure the health of infants. Child abuse is one of the most common and most important problems in the world, and one of the factors that increase its incidence is substance dependency of the parents. Breastfeeding beyond the normal age range can be harmful to the health of the mother and baby, and may represent a pathol...

Socio-demographic and clinical profile of the first one hundred and five patients attending a de-addiction clinic of New Delhi for heroin dependence is presented. It reveals a sudden rise of Heroin use in young educated males, probably because of its easy availability and its decreasing prices in the last few years. This trend is likely to be observed in the other metropolitan cities of India a...

OBJECTIVE The objective of this secondary analysis was to explore differences in baseline clinical characteristics and opioid replacement therapy treatment outcomes by type (heroin, opioid analgesic [OA], or combined [heroin and OA]) and route (injector or non-injector) of opioid use. METHOD A total of 1,269 participants (32.2% female) were randomized to receive one of two study medications (...