Abstract |
Sixty D,L- or L- methadone treated patients in maintenance therapy were interviewed for additional drug abuse and psychiatric comorbidity; 51.7% of the entire population had a comorbid Axis-I disorder, with a higher prevalence in females (P=0.05). Comorbid patients tended to have higher abuse of benzodiazepines, alcohol, cannabis, and cocaine, but not of heroin. They had received a significantly lower D,L- (P<0.05) and L- methadone dose than non-comorbid subjects. The duration of maintenance treatment showed an inverse relationship to frequency of additional heroin intake (P<0.01). Patients with additional heroin intake over the past 30 days had been treated with a significantly lower L- methadone dosage (P<0.05) than patients without. Axis-I comorbidity appears to be decreased when relatively higher dosages of D,L- (and L- methadone) are administered; comorbid individuals, however, were on significantly lower dosages. Finally, L-, but not D,L- methadone seems to be more effective in reducing additional heroin abuse.
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Authors | Dirk Wedekind, Stefan Jacobs, Iris Karg, Christel Luedecke, Udo Schneider, Konrad Cimander, Pierre Baumann, Eckart Ruether, Wolfgang Poser, Ursula Havemann-Reinecke |
Journal | The world journal of biological psychiatry : the official journal of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry
(World J Biol Psychiatry)
Vol. 11
Issue 2 Pt 2
Pg. 390-9
(Mar 2010)
ISSN: 1814-1412 [Electronic] England |
PMID | 20218800
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
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Chemical References |
- Analgesics, Opioid
- Methadone
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Topics |
- Adult
- Analgesics, Opioid
(chemistry, therapeutic use)
- Female
- Heroin Dependence
(complications, psychology, rehabilitation)
- Humans
- Male
- Mental Disorders
(complications, psychology)
- Methadone
(chemistry, therapeutic use)
- Middle Aged
- Stereoisomerism
- Substance-Related Disorders
(complications, psychology, rehabilitation)
- Young Adult
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