Treatment failure and methadone dose in a public methadone maintenance treatment programme in Geneva

The aim of this study was to identify predictors of treatment failure in a methadone maintenance treatment programme in Geneva. All patients (n = 149) starting treatment between May 1993 and May 1995 were followed until end of treatment or 31st July 1996. The proportion of depressed patients decreased significantly over time, as did the proportion of those injecting illegal drugs. The overall treatment failure was 21%. The probability of treatment failure was higher for women than for men (RR 2.2, P = 0.03) and decreased in successive cohorts. There was no correlation between the methadone dose at 2 months and treatment outcome, probably because doses were individualised and the associated level of psycho-social services high.