2014
Background: The reduction of crime is an important outcome of opioid maintenance treatment (OMT). Criminal intensity and treatment regimes vary among OMT patients, but this is rarely adjusted for in statistical analyses, which tend to focus on cohort incidence rates and rate ratios. The purpose of this work was to estimate the relationship between treatment and criminal convictions among OMT patients, adjusting for individual covariate information and timing of events, fitting time-to-event regression models of increasing complexity.
Strict control routines of prescribed opiate intake in opioid maintenance treatment, OMT, are used to reduce the risk of diversion and non-prescribed methadone and buprenorphine use. While maintaining a focus on aspects of control, this article explores motivations for and practices of methadone and buprenorphine use, both inside and outside of prison and among imprisoned individuals in OMT.
Background: Retention in treatment is often highlighted as one of the key indicators of success in opioid maintenance treatment (OMT).
Opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) is the most widely used treatment for opioid dependence. Maintenance programmes differ in various aspects and may also change over time. This paper investigates the changes in treatment practices within a national OMT programme during a 10 year period (2002–2011), especially with regard to the prescribing of methadone and buprenorphine.
A newly published result based on data from Nepalese inpatients receiving treatment for alcohol-related problems show that depression in alcohol-dependent individuals is related to altered immune functioning. However, frequent and intense drinking could attenuate the raised levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the group with depression history. These results suggest the role of immune activation in depression disorder, but also an active interaction of alcohol-use severity in this relationship.
Legemiddelassistert rehabilitering ved opioidavhengighet (LAR) ble introdusert i USA i 1960-årene. Behandlingen ble i Norge lenge avvist på prinsipielt grunnlag. Først i 1998 – etter sterk økning i overdosedødsfall utover i 1990-årene – ble LAR-behandling innført som et landsdekkende program. Det er fremdeles omstridt, og enkelte er kritiske til måten LAR drives på i Norge i dag. I denne kronikken vil vi, med bakgrunn i norsk og internasjonal forskning, argumentere for at legemiddelassistert rehabilitering er viktig behandling samt drøfte utfordringer og dilemmaer fagfeltet nå står overfor.
Aims: To compare a motivational intervention (MI) focused on increasing involvement in 12-Step groups (TSGs; e.g. Alcoholics Anonymous) versus brief advice (BA) to attend TSGs.
Background: Open drug scenes are gatherings of drug users who publicly consume and deal drugs. The authors conducted a study of five European cities that have met such scenes constructively. The aim was to investigate shared and non-shared interventions and strategies in order to increase the understanding of this type of problem.
BAKGRUNN: Legemiddelassistert rehabilitering (LAR) er vanligvis en langvarig behandling. En del LAR-pasienter avbryter behandlingen. Det er behov for mer kunnskap om hvordan det går med disse.
Background: The literature from developed countries suggests a relationship between alcohol use and quality of life and social engagement, where harmful drinkers have lower quality of life and less social engagement. Despite the high rates of harmful alcohol use in South Africa, little is known about the association between drinking pattern and quality of life and social engagement in this context. We aimed to determine if quality of life and social engagement varied across different drinking patterns among older South African adults, contributed to drinking pattern when controlling for socio-demographic factors, and varied differentially between genders.
Objective: The use of central stimulant medication in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who receive opioid maintenance treatment remains controversial and empirical evidence is limited. Because of the abuse potential of stimulant drugs, Norway has restrictions on prescribing central stimulants to individuals who have substance use disorders or who are on opioid maintenance treatment. In this naturalistic study, we describe experiences from a program through which central stimulant medication was administered to patients with ADHD receiving opioid maintenance treatment.
Background: Opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) is regarded as a crime control measure. Yet, some individuals are charged with violent criminal offenses while enrolled in OMT. This article aims to generate nuanced knowledge about violent crime among a group of imprisoned, OMT-enrolled individuals by exploring their understandings of the role of substances in violent crime prior to and during OMT, moral values related to violent crime, and post-crime processing of their moral transgressions.
A newly published result based on data from Nepalese inpatients receiving treatment for alcohol-related problems show that early debut to alcohol consumption, hazardous drinking and delayed treatment seeking are common in Nepal. Nepalese society has ambivalent attitude towards alcohol consumption- people high in the caste system have a social taboo about drinking, whereas use of alcoholic beverages is banal in the lower castes. The current study identified subtle differences between these groups. Notwithstanding taboo, people from the higher castes, and those high in socio-economic stratum were found to over-represent alcohol-treatment populations.