Evaluation of an alternative program for MMTP drop-outs: impact on treatment re-entry.

Abstract

Retention in a Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program (MMTP) is predictive of abstaining from heroin and has other benefits. Many individuals leave treatment before they experience these positive outcomes. This research project targeted MMTP drop-outs with an intervention designed to assist them in returning to drug treatment. Subjects who had left MMTP within the prior 12 months were randomly assigned to intervention or comparison groups. The 3-month long intervention consisted of street outreach, cognitive behavioral groups, and individual counseling. Data were analyzed for 175 subjects who were out of treatment at baseline and who returned for a 6-month follow-up interview (Intervention group, N=111; Comparison group, N=64). A total of 87% of subjects assigned to the intervention condition participated in at least one component. Intervention subjects who attended two or more cognitive behavioral group sessions were more likely than those who attended 0-1 sessions or those in the comparison group to have returned to treatment during the 6 month follow up time period (72 vs. 53 vs. 50%, respectively, P<0.05, chi square test). MMTP drop-outs need not be lost to the drug treatment system if special efforts are made to engage them in interventions developed to encourage treatment re-entry.