Does XXXX maintenance treatment based on the new national guidelines work in a primary care setting?

@entity1 @entity4521 @entity645 @entity284 @entity734
BACKGROUND: General practitioners (GPs) are being encouraged to treat more drug users but there are few studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of primary care treatment. AIM: To determine whether @entity1 retained on @entity284 maintenance treatment for one year in a modern British primary care setting, with prescribing protocols based on the new national guidelines, can achieve similar harm reduction outcomes to those demonstrated in other settings, using objective outcome measures where available. DESIGN OF STUDY: Longitudinal cohort study. SETTING: The Primary Care Clinic for @entity734 , Sheffield. METHOD: The intervention consisted of a @entity284 maintenance treatment provided by GPs with prescribing protocols based on the 1999 national guidelines. The first 96 eligible consenting @entity1 entering treatment were recruited; 65 completed the study. Outcome measures were current drug use, @entity645 risk-taking behaviour, social functioning, criminal activity, and mental and physical health, supplemented by urinalysis and criminal record data. RESULTS: Frequency of @entity4521 use was reduced from a mean of 3.02 episodes per day (standard deviation [SD] = 1.73) to a mean of 0.22 episodes per day (SD = 0.54), (chi 2 = 79.48, degrees of freedom [df] = 2, P < 0.001), confirmed by urinalysis. Mean numbers of convictions and cautions were reduced by 62% (z = 3.378, P < 0.001) for all crime. @entity645 risk-taking behaviour, social functioning, and physical and psychological wellbeing all showed significant improvements. CONCLUSION: @entity1 retained on @entity284 maintenance treatment for one year in a primary care setting can achieve improvements on a range of harm reduction outcomes similar to those shown by studies in other, often more highly structured programmes.
