ment with buprenorphine/naloxone combination, buprenorphine and naltrex- one among patients diagnosed with opioid dependence; and to explore for.
Alcohol and Alcoholism Vol. 49, No. S1, pp. i1–i69, 2014
ISAM 2014 16TH INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF ADDICTION MEDICINE ANNUAL MEETING 2–6 OCTOBER 2014 YOKOHAMA, JAPAN
OR10 OTHER DRUG 4 OR10-1 PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF OPIOID DEPENDENCE BELIEFS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS: A STUDY FROM TERTIARY CARE CENTRE IN NORTHERN INDIA S. Prakash and Y. P. S. Balhara National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, Department of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India Introduction. The present study aims to identify the beliefs related to treatment with buprenorphine/naloxone combination, buprenorphine and naltrexone among patients diagnosed with opioid dependence; and to explore for relationship between underlying beliefs and treatment choice, adherence and abstinence.
Methods. It was a cross-sectional, observational study held at the inpatient department of a tertiary care teaching centre in northern India. 85 opioid dependent patients completed the Drug Abuse Monitoring System proforma and, a questionnaire to elicit beliefs, developed for the purposes of this study. Results. The patients described a variety of beliefs in relation to each of these drugs, both positive and negative. The beliefs seemed to influence the choice of drugs. While patients believing that buprenorphine or naltrexone were harmful quoted necessary durations of treatment that were much shorter than those who did not so believe, there was no statistically significant difference in the actual durations and periods of abstinence ( p = 0.34; p = 0.62). Sociodemographic profile, beliefs related to dosing, nature of medication, expectations from treatment and duration of illness are also described. Conclusions. Beliefs may affect choice of treatment which in turn can have potentially important effects on outcome. Effect of beliefs on duration of treatment and abstinence needs further exploration.
