[Subgroups of drug abuse patients who consume buprenorphine]

We assessed the buprenorphine use in a sample of studied 184 patients with DSM III-R diagnostic criteria for opioid dependence who attended the Sta. Eulalia's CAS (outpatients facility) during 18 months period The lifetime prevalence of buprenorphine was 79% (43.5% of them were occasional users and 35.5% habitual; whereas the point prevalence was 16.8% (6.5% occasional users and 10.3% habitual). We compared the clinical characteristics of this patients, those who use the drug habitually and those who take it occasionally. The first group showed a longer time of opioid abuse (p less than 0.05) and they were more involved in drug traffic (p less than 0.001), mostly buprenorphine. These patients may present higher levels of clinical severity and social conflicts. Anyway they are usually polydrug users who consume more frequently flurnitracempan, cocaine, heroine, alcohol and cannabis (p less than 0.001). The usual ways of obtaining the buprenorphine are illegal traffic and GP's prescription in the Public health care facilities often by menace and intimidation. For consuming buprenorphine the abusers crush the pill, dilute it and them inject the solution i.v. The subgroup of patients who use buprenorphine occasionally only take in when don't have heroine and clinically they are not so deteriorated.