Page 67 - 1

67
Reduction in mortality
Increase in productive activities and employment
Improvement in family and social relationships
Prevention of addiction-related diseases such as HIV or abscesses or
endocarditis
Improvement in emotional and psychiatric health
Improvement in self-efficacy and personal growth (spiritual health)
Reduction in criminal activities

Some of these outcomes are hard to measure, such as personal growth,
or family relationships. Some of these outcomes are measured by
comparing how the person is doing before treatment to how he or she
is doing during treatment. Other outcomes compare persons who are
actively using drugs and not in treatment, to those who are now in
treatment, as a group.

What Outcomes Have Been Measured For Methadone
Maintenance Treatment?

Here are some of the outcomes that have actually been measured for
methadone maintenance treatment:

Table 2

Outcomes for Methadone Maintenance Treatment
• 8-10 fold reduction in death rate
• reduction of drug use
• reduction of criminal activity
• engagement in socially productive roles
• reduced spread of HIV
• excellent retention

One way of saying this is: the patient’s life becomes stabilized by this
treatment. The medication becomes a platform that allows the patient
to live his or her life, and engage in recovery activities. A legal,
steady, long-acting dose of prescribed daily methadone stabilizes the