One-year follow-up of opiate injectors treated with oral methadone in a GP-centred programme

To examine changes in drug-related behaviour in opiate-dependent injectors treated with oral methadone, in a shared care scheme where consumption of the daily dose is usually supervised by a community pharmacist.

One-year cohort study.

Recruitment from the main routes into methadone prescribing in Glasgow during 1996: General Practitioner Drug Misuse Clinic Scheme and the Drug Problem Service.

Current opiate injectors entering methadone treatment.

Among the 204 injectors recruited, 148 (73%) were re-interviewed at 6 months and 118 (58%) at both 6 and 12 months. Twenty-nine per cent of the cohort remained continuously on methadone for 12 months. In that group, over the 12-month period, self-reported daily opiate injecting reduced from 78% to 2%; overdose in the previous 6 months from 24% to 2%; mean daily drug spend from 50 Pounds to 4 Pounds; and mean monthly number of acquisitive crimes reduced from 13 to three. Assuming participants lost to follow-up were unchanged, significant improvements in the total cohort were seen in daily opiate injecting (from 80% at recruitment to 43% at 12 months), overdose (from 27% to 15%), mean daily drug spend (from 63 Pounds to 38 Pounds) and mean monthly number of acquisitive crimes (from 18 to 11). Discontinuation of treatment was mainly due to imprisonment (39%) or sanctions by the prescriber (33%).

Treatment of opiate-dependent drug injectors with methadone in a community-wide general practitioner-centred scheme, with supervised daily consumption, was associated with major beneficial change for a substantial proportion of patients.