A day-by-day investigation of changes in criminal convictions before and after entering and leaving opioid maintenance treatment: a national cohort study

BMC Psychiatry

Research Article

Anne Bukten¹  Helge Waal¹  Thomas Clausen¹  Jo Røislien²  Svetlana Skurtveit³  Michael Gossop⁴ 

[1] SERAF–Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research, University of Oslo, Kirkveien 166, N-0407, Oslo, Norway;SERAF–Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research, University of Oslo, Kirkveien 166, N-0407, Oslo, Norway;Department of Biostatistics, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway;SERAF–Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research, University of Oslo, Kirkveien 166, N-0407, Oslo, Norway;Department of Pharmacoepidemiology, Division of Epidemiology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway;SERAF–Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research, University of Oslo, Kirkveien 166, N-0407, Oslo, Norway;Kings College London, National Addiction Centre, London, UK;

关键词: Criminal Activity;    Criminal Offence;    Treatment Episode;    Treatment Start;    Heroin User;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-244X-13-262

 received in 2013-06-19, accepted in 2013-09-20,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundOpioid maintenance treatment (OMT) is associated with reduced crime among heroin users, but little is known about how crime changes during different phases of treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in criminal convictions on a day-to-day basis before and after entry or discharge from OMT.MethodsNational cohort study of all patients (n = 3221) in OMT in Norway 1997-2003. Patients were followed over a 9-year period, before, during, and after treatment. Criminal convictions were studied on a day-to-day basis in relation to treatment status. A time-continuous estimate of the probability of convictions within the population for all days during observation was calculated.ResultsChanges in convictions were evident before changes of treatment status. During the 3 years prior to OMT, the convictions rate was approximately 0.4% per day. Prior to OMT, convictions decreased to about 0.2% per day on the day of treatment initiation. During the weeks before dropping out of treatment, convictions increased. The patterns during periods of transition were the same across gender, age and pre-treatment conviction-levels.ConclusionsChanges in convictions often occurred prior to changes in treatment status. Reductions in criminal convictions were found in the period before entry (or re-entry) to OMT, and increases in criminal activity were found in the months prior to treatment interruption.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Bukten et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013