Individual Patient and Program Factors Related to Prison and Community Treatment Completion in Prison-Initiated Methadone Maintenance Treatment

Abstract

While prison-initiated methadone maintenance treatment is effective, it is largely unknown as to what patient and program factors are related to outcomes. These issues were studied in a secondary analysis of data from 67 male prerelease prison inmates with preincarceration heroin addiction. Three outcomes are examined: completed prison treatment; completed 1 year of community treatment; and number of days in community treatment. Being employed (p=.045) during the three years prior to index incarceration was significantly and positively related to community treatment completion. Increased frequency of urine tests taken was significantly associated with a greater number of days in community treatment (p<.001). Limitations, policy implications, and directions for future research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• drug abuse treatment
• employment
• heroin
• methadone
• prison

Acknowledgments

The project described was supported by Grant R01DA021579 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Drug Abuse or the National Institutes of Health. This manuscript has not been published elsewhere and has not been submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere.