Abstract | BACKGROUND AND AIMS: DESIGN: Prospective observational cohort study using prison health care, national community drug misuse treatment and deaths registers. SETTING: Recruitment at 39 adult prisons in England (32 male; seven female) accounting for 95% of OST treatment in England during study planning. PARTICIPANTS: Adult prisoners diagnosed with OUD (recruited: September 2010-August 2013; first release: September 2010; last release: October 2014; follow-up to February 2016; n = 15 141 in the risk set). INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: At release, participants were classified as OST exposed (n = 8645) or OST unexposed (n = 6496). The OST unexposed group did not receive OST, or had been withdrawn, or had a low dose. MEASUREMENTS: Primary outcome: all-cause mortality (ACM) in the first 4 weeks. SECONDARY OUTCOMES: drug-related poisoning (DRP) deaths in the first 4 weeks; ACM and DRP mortality after 4 weeks to 1 year; admission to community drug misuse treatment in the first 4 weeks. Unadjusted and adjusted Cox regression models (covariates: sex, age, drug injecting, problem alcohol use, use of benzodiazepines, cocaine, prison transfer and admission to community treatment), tested difference in mortality rates and community treatment uptake. FINDINGS: During the first 4 weeks after prison release there were 24 ACM deaths: six in the OST exposed group and 18 in the OST unexposed group [mortality rate 0.93 per 100 person-years (py) versus 3.67 per 100 py; hazard ratio (HR) = 0.25; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.10-0.64]. There were 18 DRP deaths: OST exposed group mortality rate 0.47 per 100 py versus 3.06 per 100 py in the OST unexposed group (HR = 0.15; 95% CI = 0.04-0.53). There was no group difference in mortality risk after the first month. The OST exposed group was more likely to enter drug misuse treatment in the first month post-release (odds ratio 2.47, 95% CI = 2.31-2.65). The OST mortality protective effect on ACM and DRP mortality risk was not attenuated by demographic, overdose risk factors, prison transfer or community treatment (fully adjusted HR = 0.25; 95% CI = 0.09-0.64 and HR = 0.15; 95% CI = 0.04-0.52, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In an English national study, prison-based opioid substitution therapy was associated with a 75% reduction in all-cause mortality and an 85% reduction in fatal drug-related poisoning in the first month after release.
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Authors | John Marsden, Garry Stillwell, Hayley Jones, Alisha Cooper, Brian Eastwood, Michael Farrell, Tim Lowden, Nino Maddalena, Chris Metcalfe, Jenny Shaw, Matthew Hickman |
Journal | Addiction (Abingdon, England)
(Addiction)
Vol. 112
Issue 8
Pg. 1408-1418
(Aug 2017)
ISSN: 1360-0443 [Electronic] England |
PMID | 28160345
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Observational Study)
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Copyright | © 2017 Society for the Study of Addiction. |
Topics |
- Adult
- Cohort Studies
- Drug Overdose
(prevention & control)
- England
- Female
- Humans
- Male
- Opiate Substitution Treatment
(statistics & numerical data)
- Opioid-Related Disorders
(therapy)
- Prisoners
(statistics & numerical data)
- Prisons
- Prospective Studies
- Risk Factors
- Risk Reduction Behavior
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