A Comparison of Mental Health Hospital Admissions in a Cohort of Heroin Users Prior to and After Rapid Opiate Detoxification and Oral Naltrexone Maintenance |
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| Authors: | D. E. Arnold-Reed P. O'Neil C. D. J. Holman M. K. Bulsara C. Rodiguez G. Gawthorne |
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| Affiliation: | 1. School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia;2. School of Population Health, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia |
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| Abstract: | Mental health (MH) hospital admissions were investigated in a cohort (N = 1184) of heroin dependent persons using linked health records. All MH in-patient admissions were extracted 36 months before to 36 months after commencing rapid opioid detoxification (ROD) and oral naltrexone. Results show that the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of drug-related and other MH admissions peaked in the 3 months immediately prior to treatment. All categories subsequently declined to baseline levels by 36 months following treatment. The authors conclude that treatment for heroin dependence reduces risk of MH admissions. |
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| Keywords: | Heroin opioid dependence oral naltrexone rapid opioid detoxification (ROD) record linkage |
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