Sex Differences in Substance Use, Health & Social Functioning among Opioid Users Receiving Methadone Treatment

BACKGROUND:

Despite the growing numbers of men and women with opioid use disorder in Canada, sex-specific issues in treatment have not been re-examined in the current population of patients with opioid addiction. We aimed to evaluate sex differences in substance use, health, and social functioning among men and women currently receiving methadone treatment for opioid use disorder in Ontario, Canada.

METHODS:

We recruited 503 participants with opioid dependence disorder receiving methadone maintenance treatment. We collected data on demographics, treatment characteristics, psychiatric history, addiction severity, and drug use patterns through urinalysis. We performed adjusted univariate analyses and logistic regression to identify distinct factors affecting men and women.

RESULTS:

Among our sample of 54 % (n = 266) men and 46 % women (n = 226) with mean age 38.3 years, less than half of participants were employed (35.6 %) and married (31.8 %) and had completed a high school education (27.9 %). Compared to men, women had frequent physical and psychological health problems, family history of psychiatric illness, and childcare responsibilities and began using opioids through a physician prescription. Men had higher rates of employment, cigarette smoking, and cannabis use compared to women.

CONCLUSIONS:

Our results have revealed different patterns of substance use, health, and social functioning among men and women currently receiving methadone treatment for opioid addiction in Ontario, Canada. This information can be used to develop an integrative treatment regimen that caters to the individual needs of men and women, as well as to inform methadone treatment protocols to include specialized services (including vocational counseling, childcare and parenting assistance, medical assistance, relationship or domestic violence counseling, etc.) and increase their availability and accessibility on a larger scale.

Below:  Comparison of substance use behavior among men and women measured by urine drug screening and self-report

Full article at:  http://goo.gl/bWHpgK

By:  Bawor M1, Dennis BB2, Varenbut M3, Daiter J3, Marsh DC4, Plater C3, Worster A5, Steiner M6, Anglin R7, Pare G8, Desai D9, Thabane L10, Samaan Z11.

• 1MiNDS Neuroscience Graduate Program, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada ; St. George's, University of London, London, UK ; Population Genomics Program, Chanchlani Research Centre, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada ; Peter Boris Centre for Addiction Research, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario Canada.
• 2St. George's, University of London, London, UK ; Population Genomics Program, Chanchlani Research Centre, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada ; Peter Boris Centre for Addiction Research, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario Canada ; Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada.
• 3Canadian Addiction Treatment Centres (CATC), Richmond Hill, Ontario Canada.
• 4Canadian Addiction Treatment Centres (CATC), Richmond Hill, Ontario Canada ; Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Laurentian Campus, Sudbury, Ontario Canada.
• 5Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada ; Canadian Addiction Treatment Centres (CATC), Richmond Hill, Ontario Canada ; Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada.
• 6Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada ; Women's Health Concerns Clinic, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario Canada ; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada.
• 7Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada ; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada.
• 8Population Genomics Program, Chanchlani Research Centre, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada ; Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada.
• 9Population Genomics Program, Chanchlani Research Centre, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada.
• 10Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada ; Biostatistics Unit, Centre for Evaluation of Medicine, Hamilton, Ontario Canada.
• 11Population Genomics Program, Chanchlani Research Centre, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada ; Peter Boris Centre for Addiction Research, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario Canada ; Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada ; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada ; Mood Disorders Program, St. Joseph's Healthcare, 100 West 5th Street, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3K7 Canada. 

More at:  https://twitter.com/hiv_insight

And: http://twitter.com/Prison_Health