Reducing the Risk of AIDS Through Methadone Maintenance Treatment

TLDR

HIV seropositivity among high‑risk drug users is linked to injection frequency and needle‑sharing contacts. The study seeks to determine whether methadone maintenance can reduce injection drug use and needle sharing, thereby impacting the AIDS epidemic. Methadone maintenance reduced IV drug use and needle sharing, with 71 % of long‑term patients ceasing IV use and 82 % of those who left relapsing, and program effectiveness varied from <10 % to >57 % IV use depending on stay length and treatment quality.

Abstract

In a three-year field study of methadone maintenance programs in New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, treatment was found to be effective in reducing IV drug use and needle sharing among most heroin addicts. Of 388 patients who remained in treatment for one year or more, 71 percent had ceased IV use. Conversely, 82 percent of patients who left treatment relapsed rapidly to IV drug use. Marked differences in the effectiveness of various programs were observed: current IV use varied from less than 10 percent to over 57 percent of patients in particular treatment programs. This differential effectiveness was related both to length of patient's stay and to the quality of treatment provided. HIV seropositivity among high-risk drug users is related to frequency of injections and needle-sharing contacts. Effective methadone treatment can stop these practices, but a widespread impact on the AIDS epidemic will require improvement of treatment in many programs.