METHADONE MAINTENANCE TREATMENT AND DEPRESSION AMONG PATIENTS IN TEHRAN

Background and Aim : Depression is considered as a dominant disorder in addicts. Meanwhile, it is one of the main symptoms of opioid withdrawal. Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) is one of the most frequently used methods to treat addicts. Methadone is a synthetic narcotic substance which prevents withdrawal symptoms. Having access to an oral consumption and reduction of intravenous addiction and related infectious diseases (AIDS, etc), and Reduction of criminality in societies due to decreased contacts with suppliers are two major goals in methadone therapy for opioid addicts. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of MMT on the level of depression of patients after treatment.Methods : This was a pre- and post-trial study. Maximum sampling error was considered to be 5% and confidence level was 95%. 323 opioid addicts referring to methadone clinics of Tehran were selected and asked by questionnaires. Beck questionnaire consisting of 21 items were given to samples twice (before and after methadone therapy). Data of both Beck tests were statistically analyzed by SPSS. The non-parametric tests like Mc-Nemar and Wilcoxon were used to compare the frequency and intensity of depression. Results : of all the 323 opioid addicts studied, 261 patients (80.8%) were depressed before methadone therapy (68.6% mild, 26.8% moderate and 4.6% severe). After a month of methadone therapy, the selected patients were studied again. In this stage, 195 patients (60.3%) were depressed (86.7% mild, 12.3% moderate and 1% severe). The difference of depression rate s before and after the treatment was significant (p<0/01).Conclusion : It is concluded that prevalence of depression in opioid addicts is higher than the normal population. Pharmacological treatment and use of methadone therapy is, probably, effective in decreasing the prevalence and severity of depression among opioid addicts

کلیدواژه ها:

depression ، opioid addiction ، Methadone ، MMT