European addiction research
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Multicenter Study
Intravenous Misuse of Methadone, Buprenorphine and Buprenorphine-Naloxone in Patients Under Opioid Maintenance Treatment: A Cross-Sectional Multicentre Study.
The act of intravenous misuse is common in patients under opioid maintenance treatment (OMT), but information on associated factors is still limited. ⋯ We offered new information on factors associated with intravenous OMT misuse, repeated misuse and ER admission in Italian patients under OMT. Our data indicate that BUP-NLX misuse is not different from that of BUP or MET. Choosing the more expensive BUP-NLX over MET will likely not lead to the expected reduction of the risk of injection misuse of the OMT. Instead of prescribing new and expensive OMT formulations, addiction unit physicians and medical personnel should better focus on patient's features that are associated with a higher likelihood of misuse. Care should be paid to concurrent benzodiazepine and OMT misuse.
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According to recent studies, only a small proportion of alcoholics in the system for addiction treatment receive expedited treatment [Rehm et al.: Sucht 2014;60:93-105] and that those who are untreated are at risk of harmful and dependent alcohol consumption. This is associated with significantly negative effects on morbidity, mortality, and quality of life [Kraus et al.: Sucht 2010;56:337-347]. As a result, not only individuals and their environment suffer but there is also a health economic impact. ⋯ Anticraving medications are hardly ever prescribed. Their routine use could reduce hospital readmission rates and save on health-care costs.