Methadone maintenance treatment and mortality in people with criminal convictions: A population-based retrospective cohort study from Canada

PLoS Medicine

Volumn 15, Issue 7, 2018, Pages

  Russolillo, Angela ^a   Moniruzzaman, Akm ^a   Somers, Julian M ^a  

^a SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

METHADONE; NARCOTIC ANALGESIC AGENT;

ADULT; ALL CAUSE MORTALITY; ARTICLE; CAUSE OF DEATH; COHORT ANALYSIS; FEMALE; FOLLOW UP; HUMAN; LONGITUDINAL STUDY; MAJOR CLINICAL STUDY; MALE; METHADONE TREATMENT; MIDDLE AGED; MORBIDITY; MORTALITY; OFFENDER; OPIATE ADDICTION; RETROSPECTIVE STUDY; YOUNG ADULT; ADOLESCENT; AGED; BRITISH COLUMBIA; EPIDEMIOLOGY; MEDICATION COMPLIANCE; OPIATE SUBSTITUTION TREATMENT; PROTECTION; RISK ASSESSMENT; RISK FACTOR; TIME FACTOR; TREATMENT OUTCOME;

ADOLESCENT; ADULT; AGED; ANALGESICS, OPIOID; BRITISH COLUMBIA; CAUSE OF DEATH; CRIMINALS; FEMALE; HUMANS; MALE; MEDICATION ADHERENCE; METHADONE; MIDDLE AGED; OPIATE SUBSTITUTION TREATMENT; OPIOID-RELATED DISORDERS; PROTECTIVE FACTORS; RETROSPECTIVE STUDIES; RISK ASSESSMENT; RISK FACTORS; TIME FACTORS; TREATMENT OUTCOME; YOUNG ADULT;

EID: 85051111709     PISSN: 15491277     EISSN: 15491676     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002625     Document Type: Article

References (75)

1. Degenhardt L, Whiteford HA, Ferrari AJ, Baxter AJ, Charlson FJ, Hall WD, et al. Global burden of disease attributable to illicit drug use and dependence: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The Lancet. 2013;382: 1564–1574. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61530-5
2. Dowell D, Noonan RK, Houry D, Underlying Factors in Drug Overdose Deaths. JAMA. 2017;318: 2295–2296. doi: 10.1001/jama.2017.15971 pmid: 29049472
3. Gostin LO, Hodge JG, Noe SA, Reframing the Opioid Epidemic as a National Emergency. JAMA. 2017;318: 1539–1540. doi: 10.1001/jama.2017.13358 pmid: 28832871
4. Bonnie RJ, Kesselheim AS, Clark DJ, Both Urgency and Balance Needed in Addressing Opioid Epidemic: A Report From the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. JAMA. 2017;318: 423–424. doi: 10.1001/jama.2017.10046 pmid: 28715551
5. Merrall ELC, Bird SM, Hutchinson SJ, Mortality of those who attended drug services in Scotland 1996–2006: record-linkage study. Int J Drug Policy. 2012;23: 24–32. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2011.05.010 pmid: 21719267
6. Darke S, Mills KL, Ross J, Teesson M, Rates and correlates of mortality amongst heroin users: Findings from the Australian Treatment Outcome Study (ATOS), 2001–2009. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2011;115: 190–195. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2010.10.021 pmid: 21130585
7. Andrews JY, Kinner SA, Understanding drug-related mortality in released prisoners: a review of national coronial records. BMC Public Health. 2012;12: 270. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-270 pmid: 22475069
8. Kariminia A, Law MG, Butler TG, Corben SP, Levy MH, Kaldor JM, et al. Factors associated with mortality in a cohort of Australian prisoners. Eur J Epidemiol. 2007;22: 417–428. doi: 10.1007/s10654-007-9134-1 pmid: 17668280
9. King NB, Fraser V, Boikos C, Richardson R, Harper S, Determinants of increased opioid-related mortality in the United States and Canada, 1990–2013: a systematic review. Am J Public Health. 2014;104: e32–42. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.301966 pmid: 24922138
10. Fazel S, Bains P, Doll H, Substance abuse and dependence in prisoners: a systematic review. Addiction. 2006;101: 181–191. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2006.01316.x pmid: 16445547
11. Hakansson A, Berglund M, All-cause mortality in criminal justice clients with substance use problems—A prospective follow-up study. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2013;132: 499–504. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.03.014 pmid: 23623042
12. Chang Z, Lichtenstein P, Larsson H, Fazel S, Substance use disorders, psychiatric disorders, and mortality after release from prison: a nationwide longitudinal cohort study. The Lancet Psychiatry. 2015;2: 422–430. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(15)00088-7 pmid: 26360286
13. Merrall ELC, Kariminia A, Binswanger IA, Hobbs MS, Farrell M, Marsden J, et al. Meta-analysis of drug-related deaths soon after release from prison. Addiction. 2010;105: 1545–1554. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.02990.x pmid: 20579009
14. Binswanger IA, Stern MF, Deyo RA, Heagerty PJ, Cheadle A, Elmore JG, et al. Release from prison—a high risk of death for former inmates. N Engl J Med. 2007;356: 157–165. doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa064115 pmid: 17215533
15. Degenhardt L, Larney S, Randall D, Burns L, Hall W, Causes of death in a cohort treated for opioid dependence between 1985 and 2005. Addiction. 2013;109: 90–99. doi: 10.1111/add.12337 pmid: 23961881
16. Marsden J, Stillwell G, Jones H, Cooper A, Eastwood B, Farrell M, et al. Does exposure to opioid substitution treatment in prison reduce the risk of death after release? A national prospective observational study in England. Addiction. 2017;112: 1408–1418. doi: 10.1111/add.13779 pmid: 28160345
17. Peterson JA, Schwartz RP, Mitchell SG, Reisinger HS, Kelly SM, O’Grady KE, et al. Why don’t out-of-treatment individuals enter methadone treatment programmes?International Journal of Drug Policy. 2010;21: 36–42. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2008.07.004 pmid: 18805686
18. Vashishtha D, Mittal ML, Werb D, The North American opioid epidemic: current challenges and a call for treatment as prevention. Harm Reduct J. BioMed Central; 2017;14: 7. doi: 10.1186/s12954-017-0135-4 pmid: 28494762
19. Volkow ND, Frieden TR, Hyde PS, Cha SS, Medication-Assisted Therapies—Tackling the Opioid-Overdose Epidemic. N Engl J Med. 2014;370: 2063–2066. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1402780 pmid: 24758595
20. McKenzie M, Nunn A, Zaller ND, Bazazi AR, Rich JD, Overcoming obstacles to implementing methadone maintenance therapy for prisoners: implications for policy and practice. J Opioid Manag. 2009;5: 219–227. pmid: 19736902
21. Kouyoumdjian FG, Patel A, To MJ, Kiefer L, Regenstreif L, Physician prescribing of opioid agonist treatments in provincial correctional facilities in Ontario, Canada: A survey. PLoS ONE. 2018;13(2): e0192431. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192431 pmid: 29447177
22. Mattick RP, Breen C, Kimber J, Davoli M, Mattick RP, Methadone maintenance therapy versus no opioid replacement therapy for opioid dependence. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2009;72: CD002209. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD002209.pub2 pmid: 19588333
23. Dole VP, Robinson JW, Orraca J, Towns E, Searcy P, Caine E, Methadone treatment of randomly selected criminal addicts. N Engl J Med. 1969;280: 1372–1375. doi: 10.1056/NEJM196906192802502 pmid: 4890477
24. Fullerton CA, Kim M, Thomas CP, Lyman DR, Montejano LB, Dougherty RH, et al. Medication-assisted treatment with methadone: assessing the evidence. Psychiatr Serv. 2014;65: 146–157. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.201300235 pmid: 24248468
25. Dolan K, Moazen B, Noori A, Rahimzadeh S, Farzadfar F, Hariga F, People who inject drugs in prison: HIV prevalence, transmission and prevention. Int J Drug Policy. 2015;26Suppl 1: S12–5. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2014.10.012 pmid: 25727258
26. Larney S, Toson B, Burns L, Dolan K, Effect of prison-based opioid substitution treatment and post-release retention in treatment on risk of re-incarceration. Addiction. 2012;107: 372–380. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2011.03618.x pmid: 21851442
27. Russolillo A, Moniruzzaman A, McCandless LC, Patterson M, Somers JM, Associations between methadone maintenance treatment and crime: a 17-year longitudinal cohort study of Canadian provincial offenders. Addiction. 2017;382: 1564. doi: 10.1111/add.14059 pmid: 28987068
28. Connock M, Juarez-Garcia A, Jowett S, Frew E, Liu Z, Taylor RJ, et al. Methadone and buprenorphine for the management of opioid dependence: a systematic review and economic evaluation. Health Technol Assess. 2007;11: 1–171.
29. Cousins G, Boland F, Courtney B, Barry J, Lyons S, Fahey T, Risk of mortality on and off methadone substitution treatment in primary care: a national cohort study. Addiction. 2016;111: 73–82. doi: 10.1111/add.13087 pmid: 26234389
30. Gibson A, Degenhardt L, Mattick RP, Ali R, White J, O’Brien S, Exposure to opioid maintenance treatment reduces long-term mortality. Addiction. 2008;103: 462–468. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2007.02090.x pmid: 18190664
31. Ledberg A, Mortality related to methadone maintenance treatment in Stockholm, Sweden, during 2006–2013. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 2017;74: 35–41. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2016.12.005 pmid: 28132698
32. Sordo L, Barrio G, Bravo MJ, Indave BI, Degenhardt L, Wiessing L, et al. Mortality risk during and after opioid substitution treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. BMJ. 2017;357: j1550. doi: 10.1136/bmj.j1550 pmid: 28446428
33. Evans E, Li L, Min J, Huang D, Urada D, Liu L, et al. Mortality among individuals accessing pharmacological treatment for opioid dependence in California, 2006–10. Addiction. 2015;110: 996–1005. doi: 10.1111/add.12863 pmid: 25644938
34. Zhao Y, Shi CX, McGoogan JM, Rou K, Zhang F, Wu Z, Methadone maintenance treatment and mortality in HIV-positive people who inject opioids in China. Bull World Health Organ. 2013;91: 93–101. doi: 10.2471/BLT.12.108944 pmid: 23554522
35. Fugelstad A, Stenbacka M, Leifman A, Nylander M, Thiblin I, Methadone maintenance treatment: the balance between life-saving treatment and fatal poisonings. Addiction. 2007;102: 406–412. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2006.01714.x pmid: 17298648
36. Pierce M, Bird SM, Hickman M, Marsden J, Dunn G, Jones A, et al. Impact of treatment for opioid dependence on fatal drug-related poisoning: a national cohort study in England. Addiction. 2016;111: 298–308. doi: 10.1111/add.13193 pmid: 26452239
37. Degenhardt L, Larney S, Kimber J, Gisev N, Farrell M, Dobbins T, et al. The impact of opioid substitution therapy on mortality post-release from prison: retrospective data linkage study. Addiction. 2014;109: 1306–1317. doi: 10.1111/add.12536 pmid: 24612249
38. Larney S, Gisev N, Farrell M, Dobbins T, Burns L, Gibson A, et al. Opioid substitution therapy as a strategy to reduce deaths in prison: retrospective cohort study. BMJ Open. 2014;4: e004666. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2013-004666 pmid: 24694626
39. Gisev N, Larney S, Kimber J, Burns L, Weatherburn D, Gibson A, et al. Determining the impact of opioid substitution therapy upon mortality and recidivism among prisoners: A 22 year data linkage study. May 31, 2015 pp. 1–7. https://aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi498. [cited 4 Apr 2018].
40. Scott CK, Dennis ML, Laudet A, Funk RR, Simeone RS, Surviving drug addiction: the effect of treatment and abstinence on mortality. Am J Public Health. 2011;101: 737–744. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2010.197038 pmid: 21330586
41. Amato L, Davoli M, Perucci CA, Ferri M, Faggiano F, Mattick RP, An overview of systematic reviews of the effectiveness of opiate maintenance therapies: available evidence to inform clinical practice and research. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 2005;28: 321–329. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2005.02.007 pmid: 15925266
42. Jimenez-Treviño L, Saiz PA, García-Portilla MP, Díaz-Mesa EM, Sánchez-Lasheras F, Burón P, et al. A 25-year follow-up of patients admitted to methadone treatment for the first time: mortality and gender differences. Addict Behav. 2011;36: 1184–1190. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2011.07.019 pmid: 21835551
43. Lim S, Harris TG, Nash D, Lennon MC, Thorpe LE, All-Cause, Drug-Related, and HIV-Related Mortality Risk by Trajectories of Jail Incarceration and Homelessness Among Adults in New York City. Am J Epidemiol. 2015;181: 261–270. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwu313 pmid: 25660082
44. Gordon MS, Kinlock TW, Miller PM, Medication-assisted treatment research with criminal justice populations: challenges of implementation. Behav Sci Law. 2011;29: 829–845. doi: 10.1002/bsl.1015 pmid: 22086665
45. Kleber HD, Methadone maintenance 4 decades later: thousands of lives saved but still controversial. JAMA. American Medical Association; 2008;300: 2303–2305. pmid: 19017918
46. Rezansoff SN, Moniruzzaman A, Gress C, Somers JM, Psychiatric diagnoses and multiyear criminal recidivism in a Canadian provincial offender population. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law. 2013;19: 443–453. doi: 10.1037/a0033907
47. Physicians CO, Columbia SOB, Methadone and Buprenorphine: Clinical Practice Guideline for Opioid Use Disorder [Internet]. 2016Jul pp. 1–68. https://www.cpsbc.ca/files/pdf/MB-WS-101-2017-04-01-P01-Intro.pdf. [cited 15 Dec 2017].
48. Cox DR, Regression Models and Life-Tables. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Springer New York; 1972;B34: 86–94.
49. Andersen PK, Gill RD, Cox’s Regression Model for Counting Processes: A Large Sample Study. The Annals of Statistics. Institute of Mathematical Statistics; 1982;10: 1100–1120. doi: 10.1214/aos/1176345976
50. Grambsch PM, Therneau TM, Proportional Hazards Tests and Diagnostics Based on Weighted Residuals. Biometrika. 1994;81: 515. doi: 10.2307/2337123
51. Hess KR, Graphical methods for assessing violations of the proportional hazards assumption in cox regression. Statistics in Medicine. 1995;14: 1707–1723. doi: 10.1002/sim.4780141510 pmid: 7481205
52. Huber PJ, The behavior of maximum likelihood estimates under nonstandard conditions. Berkeley, CA; 1967. pp. 221–233.
53. White H, A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity. Econometrica. 1980;48: 817. doi: 10.2307/1912934
54. Austin PC, Lee DS, Fine JP, Introduction to the Analysis of Survival Data in the Presence of Competing Risks. Circulation. 2016;133: 601–609. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.017719 pmid: 26858290
55. Andersen PK, Geskus RB, de Witte T, Putter H, Competing risks in epidemiology: possibilities and pitfalls. International Journal of Epidemiology. 2012;41: 861–870. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyr213 pmid: 22253319
56. Putter H, Fiocco M, Geskus RB, Tutorial in biostatistics: competing risks and multi-state models. Statistics in Medicine. 2007;26: 2389–2430. doi: 10.1002/sim.2712 pmid: 17031868
57. Fine JP, Gray RJ, A Proportional Hazards Model for the Subdistribution of a Competing Risk. Journal of the American Statistical Association. 1999;94: 496. doi: 10.2307/2670170
58. WHO Model List of Essential Medicines [Internet]. 20 ed. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/essentialmedicines/en/. [cited 15 Jan 2018].
59. United Nations Office in Drugs and Crime [internet]. HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care, Treatment and Support in Prison Settings: A Framework for an Effective National Response. www.who.int/hiv/pub/prisons/prison_framework/en/. [cited 15 Dec 2017].
60. Kolodny A, Courtwright DT, Hwang CS, Kreiner P, Eadie JL, Clark TW, et al. The prescription opioid and heroin crisis: a public health approach to an epidemic of addiction. Annu Rev Public Health. 2015;36: 559–574. doi: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122957 pmid: 25581144
61. Nosyk B, Marsh DC, Sun H, Schechter MT, Anis AH, Trends in methadone maintenance treatment participation, retention, and compliance to dosing guidelines in British Columbia, Canada: 1996–2006. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 2010;39: 22–31. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2010.03.008 pmid: 20418051
62. Earnshaw V, Smith L, Copenhaver M, Drug Addiction Stigma in the Context of Methadone Maintenance Therapy: An Investigation into Understudied Sources of Stigma. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2013;11: 110–122. doi: 10.1007/s11469-012-9402-5 pmid: 23956702
63. Legal Action Center. Confronting an Epidemic: The Case for Eliminating Barriers to Medication- Assisted Treatment of Heroin and Opioid Addiction [Internet]. 2015 Feb pp. 1–8. www.lac.org. [cited 10 Nov 2017].
64. Eibl JK, Morin K, Leinonen E, Marsh DC, The State of Opioid Agonist Therapy in Canada 20 Years after Federal Oversight. Can J Psychiatry. 2017;62: 444–450. doi: 10.1177/0706743717711167 pmid: 28525291
65. Nosyk B, Sun H, Evans E, Marsh DC, Anglin MD, Hser Y-I, et al. Defining dosing pattern characteristics of successful tapers following methadone maintenance treatment: results from a population-based retrospective cohort study. Addiction. 2012;107: 1621–1629. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.03870.x pmid: 22385013
66. Bruneau J, Ahamad K, Goyer M-È, Poulin G, Selby P, Fischer B, et al. Management of opioid use disorders: a national clinical practice guideline. CMAJ. 2018;190: E247–E257. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.170958 pmid: 29507156
67. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe [internet]. Preventing overdose deaths in the criminal-justice system. http://www.euro.who.int/en/publications/abstracts/preventing-overdose-deaths-in-the-criminal-justice-system-2014. [cited 10 Dec 2017].
68. Zlodre J, Fazel S, All-cause and external mortality in released prisoners: systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Public Health. 2012;102: e67–75. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2012.300764 pmid: 23078476
69. Wikner BN, Öhman I, Seldén T, Druid H, Brandt L, Kieler H, Opioid-related mortality and filled prescriptions for buprenorphine and methadone. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2014;33: 491–498. doi: 10.1111/dar.12143 pmid: 24735085
70. Uhlmann S, Milloy MJ, Kerr T, Zhang R, Guillemi S, Marsh D, et al. Methadone maintenance therapy promotes initiation of antiretroviral therapy among injection drug users. Addiction. 2010;105: 907–913. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.02905.x pmid: 20331553
71. Nosyk B, Min JE, Colley G, Lima VD, Yip B, Milloy MJS, et al. The causal effect of opioid substitution treatment on HAART medication refill adherence. AIDS. 2015;29: 965–973. doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000000642 pmid: 25915170
72. Kinner SA, Commentary on Merrall et al. (2010): understanding mortality and health outcomes for ex-prisoners—first steps on a long road. Addiction. Blackwell Publishing Ltd; 2010;105: 1555–1556. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03030.x pmid: 20707778
73. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment. 3rd ed. National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2012 Dec pp. 1–44. Report No.: 12–4180. https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/principles-drug-addiction-treatment-research-based-guide-third-edition/principles-effective-treatment. [cited 8 Jan 2018].
74. Nosyk B, MacNab YC, Sun H, Fischer B, Marsh DC, Schechter MT, et al. Proportional hazards frailty models for recurrent methadone maintenance treatment. Am J Epidemiol. 2009;170: 783–792. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwp186 pmid: 19671835
75. Liao D-L, Chen P-C, Chen C-H, Hsieh C-J, Huang Y-F, Shih W-Y, et al. Higher methadone doses are associated with lower mortality in patients of opioid dependence in Taiwan. J Psychiatr Res. 2013;47: 1530–1534. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2013.07.001 pmid: 23880602