Effectiveness of the methadone programme in the treatment of patients on a mephedrone binge and dependent on heroin: a retrospective study, 2010–19

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of the methadone programme in a group of patients taking mephedrone with heroin.

Methods: The research involved 230 people who took part in the methadone programme between 2010 and 2019: 101 people on a mephedrone binge and taking heroin and 129 people addicted to heroin.

Results: Number of re-hospitalisations was higher in a group of patients on a mephedrone binge taking heroin in comparison to heroin dependent patients (91.9 vs 79.8%, p < 0.01). The interaction of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with the dose of methadone taken explains 67.6% of the variance in the frequency of hospitalisation of the patients on a mephedrone binge (p < 0.001), and in the case of the dose of methadone alone – only 12% (p < 0.001). Regression analysis indicated that statistically significant majority of the subjects (p < 0.001) who received the optimal dose of methadone, namely 100–110 ml, were hospitalised once.

Conclusions: The interaction of the methadone dose with HCV infection plays a very important role in the frequency of hospitalisation of patients taking mephedrone with heroin on a regular basis.

KEY POINTS

• The number of hospitalisations was higher in a group of patients on a mephedrone binge taking heroin in comparison to heroin dependent patients

• The interaction of the sex of the subjects and HCV infection with the dose of methadone taken explains 80.3 and 67.6% of variance in the frequency of hospitalisations, respectively

• The most optimal dose of methadone in the group of people taking mephedrone with heroin ranges between 100 and 110 ml

Keywords:

• Methadone
• mephedrone
• heroin

Author contributions

M.O. conceived and proposed the idea; M.O. designed, wrote and revised the manuscript; T.N., K.P., E.M. and M.B.Z. revised the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Acknowledgements

The authors specially acknowledge Tadeusz Nasierowski, MD, PhD for making this research possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.