Dosage of pharmacologic medication and length of follow-up did not affect changes in domain scores .
WHOQOL-BREF and ASI domain scoring is a useful tool in measuring overall quality of life and levels of addiction among OST participants .
BACKGROUND Opioid substitution treatment ( OST ) can increase quality of life ( WHOQOL-BREF ) and reduce addiction severity index ( ASI ) scores among participants over time .
OST program participants have noted that improvement in quality of life is one of the most important variables to their reduction in drug use .
However , there is little systematic underst and ing of WHOQOL-BREF and ASI domain changes among OST participants in low and middle-income countries ( LMIC ) .
A randomized trial of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of observed versus unobserved administration of buprenorphine-naloxone for heroin dependence.
AIMS To compare the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of unobserved versus observed dosing of patients seeking treatment of heroin dependence . DESIGN R and omized controlled trial and cost-effectiveness analysis . Setting Specialist out-patient drug treatment centres in Australia . PARTICIPANTS Heroin users seeking maintenance treatment . INTERVENTION Participants were allocated r and omly to observed or unobserved dosing for 3 months . All subjects received buprenorphine-naloxone and weekly clinical review s. MEASUREMENTS Primary end-points were retention in treatment and heroin use at 3 months . Costs of treatment were measured ( in Australian dollars , AU$ ) and cost-effectiveness compared . Secondary outcomes included quality of life , psychological symptoms and use of non-opioid drugs . FINDINGS A total of 119 subjects were r and omized and analysed . At 3 months , 33/58 ( 57 % ) r and omized to unobserved treatment , and 37/61 ( 61 % ) observed were retained ( log-rank chi2 = 0.04 , df = 1 , P = 0.84 ) . On an intention-to-treat analysis , reductions in days of heroin use in the preceding month , from baseline to 3 months , did not differ significantly ; 18.5 days ( 95 % CI : 21.8 - 15.3 ) and 22.0 days ( 95 % CI : 24.3 - 19.7 ) , respectively ( Mann-Whitney U = 807.5 , P = 0.13 ) . The mean cost for the unobserved group was AU$1,663 ( 95 % CI 1308 - 2017 ) per treatment episode , significantly less than the mean cost for the observed group at AU$2,138 ( 95 % CI 1713 - 2562 ) . CONCLUSIONS Retention and heroin use was not significantly different between observed and unobserved dosing groups . Attendance for observed dosing was not associated with worse retention . Treatment with close clinical monitoring , but no observation of dosing , was significantly cheaper and therefore significantly more cost-effective
Dosage of pharmacologic medication and length of follow-up did not affect changes in domain scores .
WHOQOL-BREF and ASI domain scoring is a useful tool in measuring overall quality of life and levels of addiction among OST participants .
BACKGROUND Opioid substitution treatment ( OST ) can increase quality of life ( WHOQOL-BREF ) and reduce addiction severity index ( ASI ) scores among participants over time .
OST program participants have noted that improvement in quality of life is one of the most important variables to their reduction in drug use .
However , there is little systematic underst and ing of WHOQOL-BREF and ASI domain changes among OST participants in low and middle-income countries ( LMIC ) .