Impact of lifetime psychiatric diagnosis on long-term retention and survival of former opiate addicts in methadone maintenance treatment

This study examined whether methadone (hereinafter referred to as MTD) maintenance treatment (MMT) is correlated with sexual dysfunction (SD) in heroin-dependent men. This was conducted to determine the prevalence of sexual dysfunction and if there is a relationship between duration and dose among men on MMT and its impact on the quality of life. The study combined a retrospective and a cross-sectional survey based on the Kinsey Scale, TECVASP, and PRSexDQ-SALSEX clinical interviews of 85 patients who are currently engaged in MMT. Sexual dysfunction in all five PRSexDQ-SALSEX domains (lack of libido, delay in orgasm, inability to orgasm, erectile dysfunction, and tolerance or acceptance of changes in sexual function) was associated with dose and long-term use of heroin. All dimensions of SD were affected by the MTD intake. From the analysis of our sample, we may conclude that dose of MTD and overall score of SD were directly associated. However, no evidence was found to prove that treatment duration and severity of SD were linked. It is notable that only one tenth of the patients spontaneously reported their symptoms of the sexual sphere, but up to a third considered leaving the MMT for this reason.

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Effects of Long‐Term, Medically Supervised, Drug‐Free Treatment and Methadone Maintenance Treatment on Drug Users’ Emergency Department Use and Hospitalization

Clinical Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1086/377558 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 37 (s5) ◽

pp. S457-S463 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Barbara J. Turner ◽

Christine Laine ◽

Chuya P. Yang ◽

Walter W. Hauck

Keyword(s):

Emergency Department ◽

Methadone Maintenance Treatment ◽

Drug Users ◽

Maintenance Treatment ◽

Methadone Maintenance ◽

Emergency Department Use ◽

Free Treatment ◽

Drug Free

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Sleep quality in heroin addicts under methadone maintenance treatment

Acta Neuropsychiatrica ◽

10.1111/j.1601-5215.2011.00628.x ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 24 (6) ◽

pp. 356-360 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Wen-Yu Hsu ◽

Nan-Ying Chiu ◽

Jui-Ting Liu ◽

Chieh-Hui Wang ◽

Ting-Gang Chang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sleep Quality ◽

Sleep Disturbance ◽

Sleep Disorders ◽

Methadone Maintenance Treatment ◽

Maintenance Treatment ◽

Methadone Maintenance ◽

Opiate Withdrawal ◽

Heroin Addicts ◽

Methadone Dosage ◽

Opiate Addicts

Hsu W-Y, Chiu N-Y, Liu J-T, Wang C-H, Chang T-G, Liao Y-C, Kuo P-I. Sleep quality in heroin addicts under methadone maintenance treatment.Background: Sleep disturbance is a common phenomenon among opiate addicts. The side effects of opiate addiction or opiate withdrawal might result in sleep disturbance. However, their problems might be related to sedative medication abuse, alcohol abuse or heroin relapse. Sleep is an important issue in this population.Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of sleep disorders in heroin addicts receiving methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) and analyse the correlation between related factors, such as age at opiate exposure, opiate exposure duration, duration in MMT, methadone current dosage, methadone attendance rate and the severity of sleep disorders.Method: We enrolled 121 heroin addicts who were receiving MMT. We collected data on the duration of insomnia, hypnotic history, Visual Analogue Scale-10 of sleep quality, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), methadone dosage, methadone history and opiate history.Results: The mean of the PSQI was 9.1 ± 5.4, and 70.2% of patients had PSQI scores >5, indicating they were poor sleepers. We also found the PSQI scores were correlated significantly with the methadone dosage.Conclusions: The sleep disturbance prevalence rate of opiate addicts under MMT was high in Taiwan, as shown in the previous studies, and the severity of sleep disturbance has been underestimated.

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