NCJ Number
176746
Journal
Drug and Alcohol Review Volume: 17 Issue: 2 Dated: June 1998 Pages: 153-158
Date Published
1998
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Retrospective data on inmate drug use among former inmates who had received standard drug treatment (counseling), time-limited methadone treatment, or methadone maintenance treatment were used to determine whether methadone maintenance reduced the risk of injection drug use and thus of HIV infection among inmates in New South Wales, Australia.
Abstract
The participants were 185 injecting drug users who had recently been released from New South Wales prisons. They had all been in a New South Wales prison in the last 2 years and were recruited from methadone units, hostels for ex-inmates and drug injectors, needle exchange programs, and other sources. Self-reported drug use and injecting risk behavior were compared in inmates who received standard drug treatment, time-limited methadone treatment, and methadone maintenance treatment. Blood tests were used to determine HIV infection. The groups were similar in terms of most basic demographic characteristics. However, those who had been maintained on methadone reported a significantly lower prevalence of heroin injection and syringe sharing. They also scored lower than the other groups on an HIV Risk-taking Behavioral Scale. Findings suggested that methadone treatment with doses of more than 60 milligrams and a sufficient duration in treatment was associated with reduced injecting risk behavior in prison. Findings also suggested the need for prospective studies to assess the effectiveness of methadone programs in preventing AIDS and other blood-borne viral infections among inmates who are injection drug users. Tables and 30 references (Author abstract modified)