Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
An official website of the United States government
Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title
Coviello DM, Zanis DA, Wesnoski SA, Lynch KG, Drapkin M. Characteristics and 9-month outcomes of discharged methadone maintenance clients. Journal of substance abuse treatment. 2011 Mar 1; 40(2):165-74.
Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects. This study is a secondary data analysis of a clinical trial assessing the effectiveness of outreach case management (OCM) in linking discharged methadone patients back into treatment. The original trial assessed the effectiveness of the OCM intervention compared to a passive referral among methadone clients who needed treatment postdischarge but had not reengaged. The purpose of this study was to assess the characteristics and long-term outcomes of all clients who were discharged from methadone maintenance treatment including those who had reengaged in treatment. A total of 230 methadone clients were interviewed 3 months and then again at 9 months following discharge from treatment. Compared with participants who needed treatment but had not reengaged (NoTx: 56%), those who had successfully reenrolled in treatment (Tx; 44%) were more likely to be female, not married, and unemployed; had a longer history of sedative use; reported more psychiatric hospitalizations; and were originally enrolled in a community-based rather than a Veterans Administration program. Despite having more severe problems, the Tx group had fewer opioid-positive urines and reported less IV drug use at 9 months postdischarge compared to the NoTx group. The findings highlight the importance of rapid treatment reengagement.
