Release Date
Geography
Language of Resource
Full Text Available
Open Access / OK to Reproduce
Peer Reviewed
Objective
This study aimed to characterize heroin-assisted treatment (HAT) patients at treatment start and compare their individual characteristics to those of patients entering traditional opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) with methadone or buprenorphine during the same period.
Findings/Key points
Nearly all HAT patients had a history of methadone treatment (91%) and half had residential treatment experience (48%). In the year previous to admission, HAT patients recorded the highest percentages of non-fatal overdoses (12%) and chronic hepatitis C diagnoses (16%), and the lowest percentages of psychiatric disorders (11%) compared to traditional OMT patients. Criminal convictions were also common: 39% of the HAT group had committed a property crime and 18% a drug-related crime the year before HAT entry. During the study period, an overall reduction in OMT enrollments for each year was recorded. The HAT proportion to the total remained fairly stable (4%-10%), while the buprenorphine proportion increased.
Design/methods
Patients who initiated HAT or OMT with methadone or buprenorphine in Denmark from 2010 to 2018 were included (n=6798).
