The safe implementation of a prison-based methadone maintenance programme: 7 year time-series analysis of primary care prescribing data

BMC Family Practice

Research Article

Nat MJ Wright¹  Charlotte French¹  Victoria Allgar² 

[1] HMP Leeds Healthcare Department, 2 Gloucester Terrace, LS12 2TJ, Armley, Leeds, England;John Hughlings, Jackson Building Heslington, University of York, YO10 5DD, York, England;

关键词: Methadone maintenance;    Prison medicine;    Opiates;    Dependence;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2296-15-64

 received in 2013-11-05, accepted in 2014-03-28,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundInternationally there is policy support for the introduction of methadone maintenance programmes into prison settings. Increasingly GPs are encouraged to undertake this work although concerns remain regarding the safety of such programmes. This study sought to evaluate the impact and safety of the introduction of a general practitioner with a special interest (GPsi) in substance misuse led methadone prescribing service into a UK prison between 2003 and 2010.MethodsTime series analysis of secondary prescribing data pertaining to opiate maintenance therapies, opiate detoxification therapies and opiate related deaths for the time period 2003 to 2010.ResultsResults show that following introduction of a GPsi in substance misuse there was a statistically significant increase in both methadone maintenance and detoxification treatments. Over time the rate of methadone maintenance prescribing plateaued with a corresponding decrease in the rate of methadone detoxification prescribing. There were no methadone related deaths in prison over the study period.ConclusionThe phased introduction of opiate replacement therapies into a busy remand prison did not result in any deaths within the prison for which opiate replacement was identified as the cause. GPsi led opiate prescribing programmes can be introduced safely into secure environments.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Wright et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014