Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Jun 2;6(6):e011445.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-011445.

Methamphetamine use in Central Germany: protocol for a qualitative study exploring requirements and challenges in healthcare from the professionals' perspective

Laura Hoffmann  1 , Nadine Schumann  1 , Thomas Fankhaenel  2 , Carolin Thiel  2 , Andreas Klement  2 , Matthias Richter  1
Affiliations

Methamphetamine use in Central Germany: protocol for a qualitative study exploring requirements and challenges in healthcare from the professionals' perspective

Laura Hoffmann et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Introduction: The synthetic drug methamphetamine with its high addiction potential is associated with substantial adverse health effects. In Germany, especially Central Germany, the increase in the consumption of methamphetamine has exceeded that of other illegal drugs. The treatment system and service providers are facing new challenges due to this rise in consumption. This qualitative study will explore the demand created by the increasing healthcare needs of methamphetamine-addicted persons in Central Germany, and the difficulty of rehabilitating addicted people.

Methods and analysis: The collection of empirical data will take place in a consecutive, two-stage process. In the first part of data collection, the experiences and perspectives of 40 professionals from numerous healthcare sectors for methamphetamine-addicted persons will be explored with the help of semistructured face-to-face interviews and probed by the research team. These findings will be discussed in 2 focus groups consisting of the participants of the face-to-face interviews; these group discussions comprise the second part of the data collection process. The interviews will be audio recorded, transcribed, and then subjected to qualitative content analysis.

Ethics and dissemination: All interviewees will receive comprehensive written information about the study, and sign a declaration of consent prior to the interview. The study will comply rigorously with data protection legislation. The research team has obtained the approval of the Ethical Review Committee at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. The results of the study will be published in high-quality, peer-reviewed international journals, presented at several congresses and used to design follow-up research projects.

Trial registration number: VfD_METH_MD_15_003600.

Keywords: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH; methamphetamine; rehabilitation; study protocol; treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. UNODC World Drug Report 2015. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (ed.) Vienna. https://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr2015/World_Drug_Report_2015.pdf (accessed 25 May 2016).
    1. EMCDDA European Drug Report 2015. Trends and Developments. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (ed.) Lisbon. http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/attachements.cfm/att_239505_EN_TDAT15001ENN.pdf (accessed 25 May 2016).
    1. Chomchai C, Chomchai S. Global patterns of methamphetamine use. Curr Opin Psychiatry 2015;28:269–74. 10.1097/YCO.0000000000000168 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Courtney KE, Ray LA. Methamphetamine: an update on epidemiology, pharmacology, clinical phenomenology, and treatment literature. Drug Alcohol Depend 2014;143:11–21. 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.08.003 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Die Drogenbeauftragte der Bundesregierung: Drogen- und Suchtbericht 2014. Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (Hrsg). Berlin. http://www.drogenbeauftragte.de/fileadmin/dateien-dba/Presse/Downloads/D... (accessed 25 May 2016).

Publication types

Substances