A Clinical Study of Opioid Substitution Therapy in a Tertiary Care Center of Eastern India

Opioid substitution therapy (OST) is an evidence-based intervention for opiate-dependent persons that replaces illicit drug use with medically prescribed, orally administered opiates such as buprenorphine and methadone. OST reduces HIV risk behaviors and harms associated with injecting opioid. Most of the evidence for OST effectiveness has been generated in middle- and high-income countries where programs are mostly located in dedicated health-care settings; evidence regarding the outcomes of OST programs in low-income countries where OST is often provided in grassroots settings such as drop-in centers is limited.

To study the sociodemographic variables, HIV ELISA status, HIV risk behavior, comorbid substance use pattern, and required dose of buprenorphine used for treatment of injection drug users (IDUs) attending oral substitution therapy (OST) center at a tertiary health care center.

A total of IDUs aged 18-60 years who attended the OST center during 1-year period at a government medical college are included in the study.

Majority of the IDUs are male with mean age of 32.8 years. The mean dose of buprenorphine used for the substitution was 4.6 mg/day at the start of therapy. Most of the IDUs are of lower educational status and educated up to primary or middle school. 32.50% of the participants who are unemployed are totally dependent on the family. Most common substance abuse among IDU users were tobacco (74.17%), followed by heroine (57.5%). High-risk behavior found among OST clients was unprotected sexual intercourse (19.17%), sharing needle (11.67%), and sexual intercourse with multiple partners (6.67%). HIV ELISA testing showed positive among 2 (1.67%).

These findings have relevance to other parts of India and Asia, where injecting drug use is common and is a first step toward filling the gap in knowledge regarding the effectiveness of community-based OST programs delivered in resource-constrained settings.