TY - JOUR
KW - Adolescent
KW - Adult
KW - Aged
KW - Analgesics, Opioid/agonists
KW - Anxiety/complications/psychology
KW - Employment
KW - Female
KW - Health Status
KW - Humans
KW - Lebanon
KW - Male
KW - Middle Aged
KW - Needle Sharing
KW - Opiate Substitution Treatment
KW - Opioid-Related Disorders/drug therapy/psychology
KW - Psychosocial Support Systems
KW - Quality of Life
KW - Risk-Taking
KW - Young Adult
KW - buprenorphine
KW - Harm Reduction
KW - Opiate-related disorders
AU - A. Ghaddar
AU - Z. Abbas
AU - R. Haddad
A1 - 
AB - BACKGROUND: Opioid agonist therapy has been widely used to reduce harms among individuals with opioid use disorder but its effectiveness has not been evaluated in the Middle East North African (MENA) region. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a program using opioid agonist therapy in combination with psychosocial support on improving psychological and social well-being, reducing arrest, and reducing risky behavior in individuals with opioid use disorder in Lebanon. METHODS: A one-group pre-test post-test design study was performed at SKOUN Lebanese Addiction Centre between January 2013 and December 2014. Eighty-six out of 181 patients agreed to participate and completed the 3-month assessment and 38 concluded the 12-month assessment. Psychological (depression and anxiety, quality of life), substance dependence/abuse, behavioral (injecting behavior, sharing needles and paraphernalia), and social outcomes were evaluated at baseline, 3, and 12 months post-treatment. RESULTS: Remarkable statistical significance improvements were observed 3 months after treatment in most outcome variables including quality of life, anxiety, substance dependence, overdose, employment, and injecting behavior. Improvements were sustained 12 months after treatment. CONCLUSION: Results support expanding the access to opioid agonist therapy in other MENA countries to treat substance dependence and reduce harms among individuals with opioid use disorder.
AD - Department of Biomedical Sciences, Lebanese International University, Beirut, Lebanon. ali.ghaddar@liu.edu.lb.; Observatory of Public Policies and Health, Beirut, Lebanon. ali.ghaddar@liu.edu.lb.; School of Pharmacy, Lebanese International University, Beirut, Lebanon.; Department of Narcotics, Ministry of Public Health, Beirut, Lebanon.; Department of Psychiatry, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.; Department of Psychiatry, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon.
BT - Harm reduction journal
C5 - Opioids & Substance Use
CP - 1
CY - England
DO - 10.1186/s12954-017-0204-8
IS - 1
JF - Harm reduction journal
M1 - Journal Article
N2 - BACKGROUND: Opioid agonist therapy has been widely used to reduce harms among individuals with opioid use disorder but its effectiveness has not been evaluated in the Middle East North African (MENA) region. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a program using opioid agonist therapy in combination with psychosocial support on improving psychological and social well-being, reducing arrest, and reducing risky behavior in individuals with opioid use disorder in Lebanon. METHODS: A one-group pre-test post-test design study was performed at SKOUN Lebanese Addiction Centre between January 2013 and December 2014. Eighty-six out of 181 patients agreed to participate and completed the 3-month assessment and 38 concluded the 12-month assessment. Psychological (depression and anxiety, quality of life), substance dependence/abuse, behavioral (injecting behavior, sharing needles and paraphernalia), and social outcomes were evaluated at baseline, 3, and 12 months post-treatment. RESULTS: Remarkable statistical significance improvements were observed 3 months after treatment in most outcome variables including quality of life, anxiety, substance dependence, overdose, employment, and injecting behavior. Improvements were sustained 12 months after treatment. CONCLUSION: Results support expanding the access to opioid agonist therapy in other MENA countries to treat substance dependence and reduce harms among individuals with opioid use disorder.
PP - England
PY - 2017
SN - 1477-7517; 1477-7517
SP - 017
EP - 8
EP - 78+
T1 - Opiate agonist treatment to improve health of individuals with opioid use disorder in Lebanon
T2 - Harm reduction journal
TI - Opiate agonist treatment to improve health of individuals with opioid use disorder in Lebanon
U1 - Opioids & Substance Use
U2 - 29216892
U3 - 10.1186/s12954-017-0204-8
VL - 14
VO - 1477-7517; 1477-7517
Y1 - 2017
Y2 - Dec 8
ER -