A cost-effectiveness analysis of buprenorphine-assisted heroin withdrawal

Drug and Alcohol Review
Christopher M DoranA Gibson

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of detoxification from heroin using buprenorphine in a specialist clinic versus a shared care setting. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with a total of 115 heroin-dependent patients receiving a 5-day treatment regime of buprenorphine. The specialist clinic was a community-based treatment agency in inner-city Sydney. Shared care involved treatment by a general practitioner supplemented by weekend dispensing and some concurrent counselling at the specialist clinic. Quantification of resource use was limited to inputs for treatment provision. The primary outcome measure used in the economic analysis was the proportion of each group that completed detoxification and achieved an initial 7-day period of abstinence. Buprenorphine detoxification in the shared care setting was estimated to be 24 dollars more expensive per patient than treatment at the clinic, which had an average treatment cost of 332 dollars per patient. Twenty-three per cent of the shared care patients and 22% of the clinic patients reported no opiate use during the withdrawal period. These results suggest that the provision of buprenorphine treatment for heroin dependence in shared care...Continue Reading

References

May 1, 1994·Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics·S L WalshG E Bigelow
Jul 1, 1993·Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment·A K NigamB M Tripathi
Jan 13, 1996·Lancet·R P Mattick, W Hall
Oct 27, 1998·Drug and Alcohol Dependence·S Darke
Jul 25, 2000·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·L GowingJ White
Jun 22, 2002·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·L GowingJ White
Aug 22, 2002·Drug and Alcohol Review·Nicholas Lintzeris
Nov 20, 2002·Substance Abuse : Official Publication of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse·Nicholas LintzerisPeter Muhleisen
Jul 2, 2003·The Medical Journal of Australia·Amy E GibsonNicholas Lintzeris
Nov 12, 2003·The Medical Journal of Australia·John R M Caplehorn

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Sep 1, 2005·Addiction·F Javier Alvarez, Francisco Gonzalez-Saiz
Sep 8, 2006·Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health·Marian ShanahanJoanne Ross
Jul 26, 2005·Peptides·Richard J Bodnar, Gad E Klein
Feb 22, 2017·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Linda GowingDalitso Mbewe
Nov 1, 2006·CNS Spectrums·Iliyan S IvanovJeffrey H Newcorn

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Addiction

This feed focuses mechanisms underlying addiction and addictive behaviour including heroin and opium dependence, alcohol intoxication, gambling, and tobacco addiction.