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. 2017 Aug 30;14(1):59.
doi: 10.1186/s12954-017-0185-7.

A longitudinal and case-control study of dropout among drug users in methadone maintenance treatment in Haiphong, Vietnam

Pham Minh Khue  1 , Nguyen Thi Tham  1 , Dinh Thi Thanh Mai  1 , Pham Van Thuc  1 , Vu Minh Thuc  2   3 , Pham Van Han  1 , Christina Lindan  4
Affiliations

A longitudinal and case-control study of dropout among drug users in methadone maintenance treatment in Haiphong, Vietnam

Pham Minh Khue et al. Harm Reduct J. .

Abstract

Background: Vietnam began providing methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) in 2008; as of June 2016, 44,479 persons who inject drugs (PWID) were in treatment in 57 provinces. However, 10-23% of patients were estimated to have dropped out of treatment during the first 2 years. We evaluated dropout and factors associated with quitting treatment.

Methods: We followed clients ≥ 18 years old enrolled in five MMT clinics in Haiphong for 3 years. Persons who missed a consecutive month of methadone treatment were considered to have dropped out and were not allowed to return; those who missed greater than five consecutive doses were considered to be non-compliant but were allowed to restart treatment at their initial dose. Clients who dropped out or who were non-compliant during their third year of MMT (cases) were traced and matched with two clients who remained in treatment (controls) by gender, age, and length of time in the program. Cases and controls were interviewed. Additional data on levels of yearly retention were abstracted from clinic records.

Results: Among the 1055 patients initially enrolled in MMT, dropout and non-compliance combined was 13.6% during the first year, 16.5% during the second year, and 22.3% during the third year. By 36 months, 33.3% of clients had dropped out, of whom 10.6% had died and 24% had been arrested. We traced and interviewed 81 clients who dropped out or who were non-compliant during year 3 as well as 161 controls. The primary reasons for dropping out included claiming no dependence on heroin (22.2%), conflict with work (21.0%), health problems (16.0%), and inability to afford the methadone co-payment of approximately 0.5 USD/day (14.8%). Independent factors associated with non-compliance included continuing to use heroin (aOR = 12.4, 95% CI 4.2-36.8) and missing greater than three doses during the previous 3 months (aOR = 18.5, 95% CI 7.4-47.1); receiving a daily dose of > 120 mg of methadone was associated with a lower odds ratio of dropping out (aOR = 0.3, 95% CI 0.1-0.9).

Conclusion: By 3 years, one third of all patients in treatment had permanently dropped out. Ensuring that methadone dosing is adequate and reducing or eliminating the co-payment fee for those who cannot afford it could improve retention.

Keywords: Dropout; Drug use; HIV; Methadone maintenance treatment; Opioid substitution; Vietnam.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The protocol was approved by the Committee on Human Subjects of the University of California, San Francisco; the Institutional Review Board of the Haiphong University of Medicine and Pharmacy; and the US Centers for Disease Control Global AIDS Program Associate Director of Science. Cases and controls (in the nested case-control study) provided written informed consent to complete a questionnaire and to have their medical records abstracted.

Consent for publication

All authors read and approved the final manuscript and consented to publication of this manuscript.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

References

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