TY - JOUR
KW - Adolescent
KW - Adult
KW - Aged
KW - Female
KW - Germany/epidemiology
KW - Humans
KW - Maintenance Chemotherapy/utilization
KW - Male
KW - Methadone/therapeutic use
KW - Middle Aged
KW - Opiate Substitution Treatment/utilization
KW - Opioid-Related Disorders/diagnosis/epidemiology/prevention & control
KW - Prescriptions/statistics & numerical data
KW - Prevalence
KW - Quality of Life
KW - Risk Assessment
KW - Self Administration/statistics & numerical data
KW - Treatment Outcome
KW - Young Adult
AU - S. Gutwinski
AU - L. K. Bald
AU - A. Heinz
AU - C. A. Muller
AU - A. K. Schmidt
AU - C. Wiers
AU - F. Bermpohl
AU - J. Gallinat
A1 - 
AB - BACKGROUND: Opiate-dependent patients can be given several days' worth of maintenance medication to take home. We studied whether the patients chosen to receive take home maintenance medication met the criteria that were published in the guidelines of the German Medical Association. These include, among other things: abstinence from additional consumption of heath-endangering substances, psychosocial reintegration, completion of the switch from illegal narcotics to the substitute maintenance medication, and clinical stabilization. METHODS: In this study, data were obtained by questionnaire over the period from May to October 2011 from patients of all 20 psychiatric hospitals and all 110 physicians' practices with licenses to provide opiate maintenance medication in Berlin, Germany. RESULTS: 986 (19.9%) of the 5032 patients taking opiate medication answered the study questionnaire; 956 gave information about the frequency with which they received medication. 365 of these 956 patients (38.2%) reported having received take home medication. Among them, 197 (56.0%) said that they additionally consumed health-endangering substances, compared to 388 (69.9%) of those who received maintenance medication every day (p<0.0001). Lower rates of additional consumption among recipients of take home maintenance medication were also found for each of the substances heroin, cocaine, and benzodiazepines (p<0.0001 for each). Patients receiving take home medication more commonly indicated that they were employed and tended to have been in the maintenance program longer than patients receiving maintenance medication every day (p<0.0001 for each question). Clinical stabilization, i.e., improvement of mental and physical health, was reported in equal measure by patients who were and were not receiving take home medication. CONCLUSION: The patient questionnaire reveals that most patients receiving take home maintenance medication meet the criteria specified in the guidelines of the German Medical Association.
BT - Deutsches Arzteblatt international
C5 - Opioids & Substance Use
CP - 23-24
CY - Germany
DO - 10.3238/arztebl.2013.0405
IS - 23-24
JF - Deutsches Arzteblatt international
N2 - BACKGROUND: Opiate-dependent patients can be given several days' worth of maintenance medication to take home. We studied whether the patients chosen to receive take home maintenance medication met the criteria that were published in the guidelines of the German Medical Association. These include, among other things: abstinence from additional consumption of heath-endangering substances, psychosocial reintegration, completion of the switch from illegal narcotics to the substitute maintenance medication, and clinical stabilization. METHODS: In this study, data were obtained by questionnaire over the period from May to October 2011 from patients of all 20 psychiatric hospitals and all 110 physicians' practices with licenses to provide opiate maintenance medication in Berlin, Germany. RESULTS: 986 (19.9%) of the 5032 patients taking opiate medication answered the study questionnaire; 956 gave information about the frequency with which they received medication. 365 of these 956 patients (38.2%) reported having received take home medication. Among them, 197 (56.0%) said that they additionally consumed health-endangering substances, compared to 388 (69.9%) of those who received maintenance medication every day (p<0.0001). Lower rates of additional consumption among recipients of take home maintenance medication were also found for each of the substances heroin, cocaine, and benzodiazepines (p<0.0001 for each). Patients receiving take home medication more commonly indicated that they were employed and tended to have been in the maintenance program longer than patients receiving maintenance medication every day (p<0.0001 for each question). Clinical stabilization, i.e., improvement of mental and physical health, was reported in equal measure by patients who were and were not receiving take home medication. CONCLUSION: The patient questionnaire reveals that most patients receiving take home maintenance medication meet the criteria specified in the guidelines of the German Medical Association.
PP - Germany
PY - 2013
SN - 1866-0452; 1866-0452
SP - 405
EP - 412
EP - 
T1 - Take home maintenance medication in opiate dependence
T2 - Deutsches Arzteblatt international
TI - Take home maintenance medication in opiate dependence
U1 - Opioids & Substance Use
U2 - 23837085
U3 - 10.3238/arztebl.2013.0405
VL - 110
VO - 1866-0452; 1866-0452
Y1 - 2013
ER -