Profiles of heroin addicts in different treatment conditions and in the community

This article describes profiles of heroin addicts in three types of treatment (methadone, detox and therapeutic community) and those not in treatment in the local community. The profiles are based on data at item-level of the revised Addiction Severity Index. In total, 310 heroin addicts were interviewed. The results show that on the one hand the community group and the methadone group are roughly comparable, and on the other hand the detox and therapeutic community groups have similar characteristics. The latter groups report significantly more psychological and social problems. The community group mentions the fewest problems with drug use and more illegal activities in the past month. The results indicate that large differences exist between the groups in psychosocial problems. Furthermore, they indicate that the methadone group has no specific pattern of problems. Two important groups outside treatment are identified with respect to matching: addicts under 25 years old and addicts with a non-Dutch cultural background.