Ten Years of Abstinence in Former Opiate Addicts: Medication-Free Non-Patients Compared to Methadone Maintenance Patients
Summary and Analysis…
The article abstract indicates long term psychiatric and chronic pain problems are associated with methadone maintained patients.
Excerpted from Journal of Addictive Diseases
Abstract:
“Fifty-five former opioid addicts who have been methadone maintained patients for 10 or more years and whose urine has tested negative for drugs for 2 or more years were compared to 99 former opioid addicts who have been medication-free for 10 or more years. Groups were comparable in age and education, but the medication-free subjects were younger when having started opioids with more severe addiction scores. Methadone maintained patients presented with a higher proportion of psychiatric comorbidity and chronic pain. Their scores of perceived sleep quality and cognitive state were poorer than the medication-free individuals. Possible explanations of the differences are discussed in this article.”