Social work in public health
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Soc Work Public Health · Nov 2016
Comparative StudyA Comparison of Opioid and Nonopioid Substance Users in Residential Treatment for Co-Occurring Substance Use and Mental Disorders.
The past decade has seen a marked increase in the illicit use of opioids, as well as a doubling of the percentage of individuals seeking treatment for opioid use disorders. However, little is known about the differences between opioid users and nonopioid users in residential treatment. Further, no studies have been published that compare opioid users and nonopioid users in treatment for co-occurring substance use and mental disorders. ⋯ To examine within-group changes in substance use, addiction severity, and mental health across time, linear mixed-model analyses were conducted with facility, year, age, gender, and race included as covariates. The authors found more similarities than differences between the two groups on baseline characteristics, treatment motivation, length of stay, and outcomes on measures of substance use, addiction severity, and mental health. The results demonstrate that though opioid users entered treatment with higher levels of substance use-related impairment, they were just as successful in treatment outcomes as their non-opioid-using peers.