Entry Into Comprehensive Methadone Treatment Via Interim Maintenance

Condition(s) targeted: Opioid Dependency

Intervention: Interim (Behavioral); Comprehensive (Behavioral); Restored (Behavioral)

Phase: N/A

Status: Recruiting

Sponsored by: Friends Research Institute, Inc.

Official(s) and/or principal investigator(s):
Robert P Schwartz, M.D., Principal Investigator, Affiliation: Friends Research Institute, Inc.

Overall contact:
Sharon Kelly, Ph.D., Phone: 410-837-3977, Ext: 273, Email: Skelly@frisrc.org

The purpose of the study is to determine whether one of three levels of counseling intensity will be associated with better treatment outcomes when combined with methadone maintenance treatment for heroin-addicted adults drawn from a methadone treatment program waiting list.

Official title: Entry Into Comprehensive Methadone Treatment Via Interim Maintenance

Study design: Treatment, Randomized, Open Label, Parallel Assignment, Efficacy Study

Primary outcome: Opioid positive drug tests

Secondary outcome:

HIV risk behavior

Treatment Retention

Cost-benefit

Cocaine positive tests

Detailed description: Waiting lists for methadone treatment programs persist, and new and more effective approaches for expanding treatment access and improving outcomes for heroin dependent individuals are needed. Recently completed research demonstrated that so-called "Interim Methadone Maintenance" (i. e., methadone with crisis counseling only, for individuals on waiting lists) was associated with greater entry into methadone treatment, less self-reported heroin and cocaine use, lower rates of opioid-positive drug tests, and lower rates of self-reported crime. The present study will build on this work by comparing three levels of counseling provided with methadone treatment: 1)"Interim" Methadone Treatment; 2) "Comprehensive" Methadone Treatment (which is the name for the usual amount of counseling provided, i. e., about once per week) and; 3)"Restored" Methadone Treatment in which the counselors will have a lower case load and will be able to provide more attention to their patients.

Minimum age: 18 Years. Maximum age: N/A. Gender(s): Both.

Criteria:

Inclusion Criteria:

- adult

- meets criteria for methadone maintenance

- unable to gain admission to methadone program within 14 days

Exclusion Criteria:

- pregnant

- acute medical or psychiatric illness

Sharon Kelly, Ph.D., Phone: 410-837-3977, Ext: 273, Email: Skelly@frisrc.org

Friends Research Institute, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, United States; Recruiting
Jerome H Jaffe, M.D., Sub-Investigator
Sharon Kelly, Ph.D., Sub-Investigator

Related publications:

Schwartz RP, Jaffe JH, Highfield DA, Callaman JM, O'Grady KE. A randomized controlled trial of interim methadone maintenance: 10-Month follow-up. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2007 Jan 5;86(1):30-6. Epub 2006 Jun 21.

Schwartz RP, Highfield DA, Jaffe JH, Brady JV, Butler CB, Rouse CO, Callaman JM, O'Grady KE, Battjes RJ. A randomized controlled trial of interim methadone maintenance. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2006 Jan;63(1):102-9.

Highfield DA, Schwartz RP, Jaffe JH, O'Grady KE. Intravenous and intranasal heroin-dependent treatment-seekers: characteristics and treatment outcome. Addiction. 2007 Nov;102(11):1816-23. Epub 2007 Sep 3.

Starting date: June 2008
Ending date: May 2011
Last updated: July 8, 2008