High Abstinence Rates in Heroin Addicts by a New Comprehensive Treatment Approach

• Published in: The American journal on addictions Vol. 16; no. 2; pp. 124 - 130
• Main Authors: De Jong, Cor A.J., Roozen, Hendrik G., van Rossum, Leo G.M., Krabbe, Paul F.M., Kerkhof, Ad J.F.M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Informa UK Ltd 01.03.2007; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Abstinence; Adult; Community Mental Health Services - organization & administration; Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders - epidemiology; Drug addicts; Drug dependency; Feasibility Studies; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Heroin; Heroin Dependence - rehabilitation; Humans; Male; Methadone - therapeutic use; Narcotics - therapeutic use; Opioids; Patient Compliance - statistics & numerical data; Program Development; Quality of Life - psychology; Treatment; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 1055-0496; 1521-0391
• DOI: 10.1080/10550490601184472

In this multi-center, naturalistic study, the effectiveness of naltrexone maintenance combined with the Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA) was investigated in detoxified, opioid-dependent patients (N = 272). Patients were recruited from methadone maintenance programs. With intention-to-treat analysis, 10 months of treatment yielded abstinence rates of 28% and 32% at 10 and 16 months after detoxification. The cumulative abstinence rate at 16 months was 24%. Quality of life, craving, general psychopathology, use of other psychoactive substances, and addiction severity of the abstinent group significantly improved when compared to the relapsed group. This abstinence-oriented approach appears to be a feasible goal, and remains an important option next to long-term methadone maintenance in the management of opioid dependence. (Am J Addict 2007;16:124-130)