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Health related quality of life in individuals transferred from a needle exchange program and starting opioid agonist treatment

Bråbäck, Martin LU ; Brådvik, Louise LU ; Troberg, Katja LU ; Isendahl, Pernilla LU ; Nilsson, Suzan LU and Håkansson, Anders C LU (2018) In Journal of addiction 2018. p.1-7
Abstract
Background. Opioid agonist treatment (OAT), for the treatment of heroin dependence, has been reported to improve overall health and lower mortality. Drug use and retention in treatment have often been used as measures of treatment success. More recently, however, researchers have suggested that measurements of quality of life should be an outcome in substance use treatment evaluations. In a recent randomized controlled trial we demonstrated high rates of successful rapid referral from a needle exchange program (NEP) to OAT. The aim of this study was to see whether an improvement in health related quality of life (HRQoL) could be seen at 3-month follow-up after starting OAT and whether it was associated with any baseline characteristics. We... (More)
Background. Opioid agonist treatment (OAT), for the treatment of heroin dependence, has been reported to improve overall health and lower mortality. Drug use and retention in treatment have often been used as measures of treatment success. More recently, however, researchers have suggested that measurements of quality of life should be an outcome in substance use treatment evaluations. In a recent randomized controlled trial we demonstrated high rates of successful rapid referral from a needle exchange program (NEP) to OAT. The aim of this study was to see whether an improvement in health related quality of life (HRQoL) could be seen at 3-month follow-up after starting OAT and whether it was associated with any baseline characteristics. We also wanted to compare our sample to a sample from the general population with regard to HRQoL. Methods. This was a 3-month follow-up of 71 patients who started OAT. Measurements of HRQoL with EQ-5D (an instrument developed by the EuroQol group) were made at baseline and at three months. Results. Mean EQ-5D VAS (visual analogue scale) for the study sample at baseline was 47.3, which was lower than a Swedish reference population reporting 83.3. Individuals reporting being prescribed a drug for a psychiatric condition had significantly lower EQ-5D index values. Improvement in EQ-5D index score was significantly less for individuals reporting previous overdoses (-0.10, p=0.025). Individuals reporting previous suicide attempts had significantly lower EQ-5D VAS score at baseline. A significant increase of the EQ-5D VAS difference over time was found with a mean difference of 10.94 (p=0.008) for the total sample. Conclusion. To our knowledge this is the first time HRQoL as an outcome is reported in a population transferred from a NEP to OAT. Our results indicate that OAT can result in increased HRQoL, even with this type of rapid low-threshold referral. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of addiction
volume
2018
article number
3025683
pages
1 - 7
publisher
Hindawi Limited
ISSN
2090-7834
DOI
10.1155/2018/3025683
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a5ab6f3f-c30d-4fea-9765-b37567dbdb9b
date added to LUP
2019-01-07 16:24:33
date last changed
2019-01-08 10:02:38
@article{a5ab6f3f-c30d-4fea-9765-b37567dbdb9b,
  abstract     = {{Background. Opioid agonist treatment (OAT), for the treatment of heroin dependence, has been reported to improve overall health and lower mortality. Drug use and retention in treatment have often been used as measures of treatment success. More recently, however, researchers have suggested that measurements of quality of life should be an outcome in substance use treatment evaluations. In a recent randomized controlled trial we demonstrated high rates of successful rapid referral from a needle exchange program (NEP) to OAT. The aim of this study was to see whether an improvement in health related quality of life (HRQoL) could be seen at 3-month follow-up after starting OAT and whether it was associated with any baseline characteristics. We also wanted to compare our sample to a sample from the general population with regard to HRQoL. Methods. This was a 3-month follow-up of 71 patients who started OAT. Measurements of HRQoL with EQ-5D (an instrument developed by the EuroQol group) were made at baseline and at three months. Results. Mean EQ-5D VAS (visual analogue scale) for the study sample at baseline was 47.3, which was lower than a Swedish reference population reporting 83.3. Individuals reporting being prescribed a drug for a psychiatric condition had significantly lower EQ-5D index values. Improvement in EQ-5D index score was significantly less for individuals reporting previous overdoses (-0.10, p=0.025). Individuals reporting previous suicide attempts had significantly lower EQ-5D VAS score at baseline. A significant increase of the EQ-5D VAS difference over time was found with a mean difference of 10.94 (p=0.008) for the total sample. Conclusion. To our knowledge this is the first time HRQoL as an outcome is reported in a population transferred from a NEP to OAT. Our results indicate that OAT can result in increased HRQoL, even with this type of rapid low-threshold referral.}},
  author       = {{Bråbäck, Martin and Brådvik, Louise and Troberg, Katja and Isendahl, Pernilla and Nilsson, Suzan and Håkansson, Anders C}},
  issn         = {{2090-7834}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{1--7}},
  publisher    = {{Hindawi Limited}},
  series       = {{Journal of addiction}},
  title        = {{Health related quality of life in individuals transferred from a needle exchange program and starting opioid agonist treatment}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/3025683}},
  doi          = {{10.1155/2018/3025683}},
  volume       = {{2018}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}