Methadone-maintained patients in primary care have higher rates of chronic disease and multimorbidity, and use health services more intensively than matched controls

Figures & data

Table 1. Comparison of methadone maintained patients (MMPs, n = 207) and controls (n = 207) by presence of chronic diseases and related factors.

	Odds ratio MMP/control (95%CI)	χ^2	P-value
Chronic disease	9.1 (5.4–15.1)	83.9	< 0.001
Chronic disease (excluding HIV/hepatitis B/hepatitis C)	4.2 (2.7–6.4)	44.8	< 0.001
Multimorbidity	6.6 (4.3–10.2)	79.1	< 0.001
Repeat meds	5.8 (3.7–8.9)	66.1	< 0.001
Smoking	4.8 (3.2–7.2)	57.3	< 0.001
Alcohol excess	2.9 (1.6–5.2)	14.1	< 0.001
Substance use	141.2 (63.3–315.3)	276.1	< 0.001

Table 2. Comparison of methadone maintained patients (MMPs, n = 207) and controls (n = 207) by chronic disease subtype.

	Odds ratio MMP/control (95%CI)	χ^2	P-value
Psychiatric disease	6.1 (3.9–9.3)	72.4	< 0.001
Respiratory disease	3.3 (1.9–5.9)	18.5	< 0.001
Infectious disease	118.5 (28.8–489.9)	144.6	< 0.001
Obesity	1.7 (1.03–2.9)	4.3	0.038
Cardiovascular disease	0.5 (0.2–1.1)	2.8	0.1
Endocrine disease	1.5 (0.9–2.2)	2.5	0.1
Other chronic disease	0.8 (0.4–1.4)	0.8	0.4

Table 3. Comparison of methadone maintained patients (MMPs, n = 207) and controls (n = 207) by health service use patterns.

	Odds ratio MMP/control (95%CI)	χ^2	P-value
Medical assessment	15.4 (8.2–28.7)	100.3	< 0.001
Nursing assessment	5.9 (3.7–9.3)	62.9	< 0.001
Phone call	4.4 (2.8–6.8)	46.6	< 0.001
Investigation	1.8 (1.2–2.7)	8.8	0.003
Referral	2.6 (1.7–4.0)	21.3	< 0.001
Attended OPD	2.3 (1.51–1.43)	15.8	< 0.001
Attended emergency department	2.1 (1.3–3.6)	8.1	0.004
Acute hospital admission	3.6 (1.6–8.1)	10.4	0.001
Used out-of-hours service	1.09 (0.6–2.0)	0.09	0.767