The effectiveness of community-based methodone maintenance treatment on the change of high-risk behavior among heroin addicts

Objective:To evaluate the effectiveness of methodone maintenance treatment(MMT) on the change of high-risk behavior among heroin addicts.Methods:An evaluation was conducted at entry and 1 year follow-up with a questionnaire survey issued by National Methadone Maintenance Treatment Working Group among the 371 heroin addicts who had been on MMT in Changzhou Methadone Maintenance Treatment Clinic from September 2006 to December 2008 for more than one year.Results:After MMT,the proportion of patients who injected drugs dropped from 73.0% to 16.7%,and the frequency of injection in the past month dropped from 90 times to 2.5 times per month.The proportion of patients sharing injectors reduced from 2.2% to 1.1%.The proportion of condom use in the last sexual intercourse raised from 14.3% to 28.1%.There were no new HIV and HCV infected cases.Conclusion:Methadone maintenance treatment can reduce drug use,change high-risk behaviors such as injecting drugs,sharing injectors,and unprotected sexual intercourse among drug users.