[Health status of methadone recipients before entering a methadone program]

Data were analyzed from 905 opiate addicts who participated for the first time in a methadone maintenance program in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland, between 1979 and 1989. Data of their physical and psychological state at the time of application for the methadone maintenance program were related to data of the addiction history and program progress. Only one fifth of the participants in the methadone maintenance program report to be in good health. Poorer health corresponds to reported psychological disorders. No correlation between demographical data and health status could be found, except that less qualified patients were in poorer health. Poorer health status is associated with the consumption of a higher amount of heroin per kg body weight and often with consumption of benzodiazepines before entrance into the methadone maintenance program. Methadone maintenance patients with a lower health status are given higher methadone doses. Compared to patients in better shape, more do not work before and during the methadone program. The physicians express less optimism with regard to the success of the program in patients in poorer health, and these are more often expelled from the program by their physicians or the health department. The results indicate that patients generally profit from the methadone maintenance treatment. However, better integrated patients and persons in better health may derive greater benefit from the methadone maintenance treatment.