The Impact of Benzodiazepine Use on Methadone Maintenance Treatment Outcomes
Authors:
Bruna Brands ab;
Joan Blake a;
David C. Marsh cde;
Beth Sproule af;
Renuka Jeyapalan a;
Selina Li a
| Affiliations: | a Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada |
| b Department of Pharmacology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada | |
| c Addiction Medicine, Vancouver Coastal Health, British Columbia, Canada | |
| d Providence Health Care, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | |
| e Department of Health Care and Epidemiology, University of British Columbia, Canada | |
| f Faculty of Pharmacy and Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
DOI:
10.1080/10550880802122620
Publication Frequency:
4 issues per year
Formats available:
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Also incorporating: Advances in Alcohol & Substance Abuse
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Abstract
The purposes of this study were to examine predictors of benzodiazepine use among methadone maintenance treatment patients, to determine whether baseline benzodiazepine use influenced ongoing use during methadone maintenance treatment, and to assess the effect of ongoing benzodiazepine use on treatment outcomes (i.e., opioid and cocaine use and treatment retention). A retrospective chart review of 172 methadone maintenance treatment patients (mean age = 34.6 years; standard deviation = 8.5 years; 64% male) from January 1997 to December 1999 was conducted. At baseline, 29% were “non-users” (past year) of benzodiazepine, 36% were “occasional users,” and 35% were “regular/problem users.” Regular/problem users were more likely to have started opioid use with prescription opioids, experienced more overdoses, and reported psychiatric comorbidity. Being female, more years of opioid use, and a history of psychiatric treatment were significant predictors of baseline benzodiazepine use. Ongoing benzodiazepine users were more likely to have opioid-positive and cocaine-positive urine screens during methadone maintenance treatment. Only ongoing cocaine use was negatively related to retention. Benzodiazepine use by methadone maintenance treatment patients is associated with a more complex clinical picture and may negatively influence treatment outcomes.
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| Keywords: Methadone maintenance; benzodiazepines; opioids; cocaine; treatment retention |
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