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Review
. 2022 Jan:132:108461.
doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108461. Epub 2021 May 7.

Correlates of methamphetamine use severity among patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment for opioid use disorder in Vietnam

Le Minh Giang  1 , Michael J Li  2 , Chukwuemeka N Okafor  3 , Nguyen Bich Diep  4 , Steven J Shoptaw  2
Affiliations
Review

Correlates of methamphetamine use severity among patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment for opioid use disorder in Vietnam

Le Minh Giang et al. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the severity of methamphetamine use among methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) patients in Vietnam with opioid use disorder and concurrent methamphetamine use, and to identify risk factors associated with higher severity of methamphetamine use.

Methods: We used survey data and medical record abstractions from 428 people with opioid use disorder who also use methamphetamine while partaking in methadone treatment in five clinics in Hanoi, Vietnam. We used multinomial logistic regression to assess other risk factors and problems associated with high methamphetamine use severity.

Results: Those who reported injecting heroin in the past 3 months (AOR = 4.05, 95% CI [1.30, 12.55], p = 0.02), having a longer history of lifetime heroin use (AOR = 1.13, 95% CI [1.03, 1.24], p < 0.01), and having higher cravings (AOR = 1.97, 95% CI [1.31, 2.98], p < 0.01) and fatigue (AOR = 1.25, 95% CI [0.96, 1.61], p = 0.09) related to methamphetamine withdrawal had greater odds of high methamphetamine use severity. One of five clinics had a significantly higher percentage of methamphetamine use severity than others.

Conclusion: Successful MMT in patients with opioid use disorder in Vietnam may additionally require methamphetamine-focused screening and intervention.

Keywords: Heroin; Methadone maintenance treatment; Methamphetamine; Opioid; Polysubstance use; Vietnam.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest:

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

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