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Evaluation of an alternative program for MMTP drop-outs: impact on treatment re-entry
Marjorie F Goldstein1, Sherry Deren, Sung Yeon Kang
1National Development and Research Institutes Inc., 71 West 23rd Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10010, USA. goldstein@ndri.org
Introduction:
Retention in a Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program (MMTP) is predictive of abstaining from heroin and has other benefits. Many individuals leave treatment before they experience these positive outcomes.
Objective:
This research project targeted MMTP drop-outs with an intervention designed to assist them in returning to drug treatment.
Methods:
Subjects who had left MMTP within the prior 12 months were randomly assigned to intervention or comparison groups. The 3-month long intervention consisted of street outreach, cognitive behavioral groups, and individual counseling. Data were analyzed for 175 subjects who were out of treatment at baseline and who returned for a 6-month follow-up interview (Intervention group, N=111; Comparison group, N=64).
Results:
A total of 87% of subjects assigned to the intervention condition participated in at least one component. Intervention subjects who attended two or more cognitive behavioral group sessions were more likely than those who attended 0-1 sessions or those in the comparison group to have returned to treatment during the 6 month follow up time period (72 vs. 53 vs. 50%, respectively, P<0.05, chi square test).
Conclusion:
MMTP drop-outs need not be lost to the drug treatment system if special efforts are made to engage them in interventions developed to encourage treatment re-entry.