Mortality and employment after in-patient opiate detoxification
Abstract
We considered that completed opiate detoxification resulted in increased life expectancy and earning capacity as compared to non-completed detoxification. The cohort study sample included pure opioid or poly-substance addicts admitted for voluntary in-patient detoxification between 1997 and 2004. Of 404 patients, 58.7% completed the detoxification program and 41.3% did not. The Austrian Social Security Institution supplied data on survival and employment records for every single day in the individual observation period between discharge and December 2007. Statistical analyses included the calculation of standardized mortality rates for the follow-up period of up to 11 years. The standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were between 13.5 and 17.9 during the first five years after discharge, thereafter they fell clearly with time. Mortality did not differ statistically significantly between completers and non-completers. The median employment rate was insignificantly higher in completers (12.0%) than in non-completers (5.5%). The odds for being employed were higher in pure opioid addicts than in poly-substance addicts (p=0.003). The assumption that completers of detoxification treatment have a better outcome than non-completers has n...Continue Reading
References
Citations
Mortality and cause of death in a cohort of people who had ever injected drugs in Glasgow: 1982-2012
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