ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2005
The prescribing of methadone and other opioids to addicts: national survey of GPs in England and Wales.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2005. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Dihydrocodeine for detoxification and maintenance treatment in individuals with opiate use disorders.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Can antiviral treatment for hepatitis C be safely and effectively delivered in primary care?: a narrative systematic review of the evidence base.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2013Pooled it
- Comparison of methadone and buprenorphine for opiate detoxification (LEEDS trial): a randomised controlled trial.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2011Pooled it
- Buprenorphine versus dihydrocodeine for opiate detoxification in primary care: a randomised controlled trial.BMC family practice · 2007Trial
- Diagnosing and managing prescription opioid use disorder in patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain in Australian general practice settings: a qualitative study using the theory of Planned Behaviour.BMC primary care · 2024Article
- Scotland's 2009-2015 methadone-prescription cohort: Quintiles for daily dose of prescribed methadone and risk of methadone-specific death.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2021Article
- Retention of opioid agonist treatment prescribers across New South Wales, Australia, 2001-2018: Implications for treatment systems and potential impact on client outcomes.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2021Article
- Medication treatment for opioid use disorder and community pharmacy: Expanding care during a national epidemic and global pandemic.Substance abuse · 2020Article
- Opiate addiction and overdose: experiences, attitudes, and appetite for community naloxone provision.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2017Article
- Development and process evaluation of an educational intervention for overdose prevention and naloxone distribution by general practice trainees.BMC medical education · 2015Article
- The management of opiate use disorders in France: results of an observational survey of general practitioners.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2015Article
- The nature of methadone diversion in England: a Merseyside case study.Harm reduction journal · 2012Article
- Deaths of opiate/opioid misusers involving dihydrocodeine, UK, 1997-2007.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2011Article
- Risk of death during and after opiate substitution treatment in primary care: prospective observational study in UK General Practice Research Database.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2010Article
- Drug misusers and incentives: Methadone works if used properly.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2007Article
- Psychosocial interventions and opioid detoxification for drug misuse: summary of NICE guidance.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2007Article
- Buprenorphine substitution treatment in France: drug users' views of the doctor-user relationship.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2007Article
- A 5-year evaluation of a methadone medical maintenance program.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2006Article
- Methadone tolerance testing in drug misusers.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2006Review
- [Insufficient involvement of psychiatrists in substitution treatment].Der Nervenarzt · 2006Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGPs occupy a pivotal position in relation to providing services to opiate misusers in the UK, and this is now cited to support initiatives in other countries.
aimsTo investigate GP involvement in the management of opiate misusers; and to examine the nature of this prescribing of methadone and other opioids.
designGP data collected via self-completion postal questionnaire from a 10% random sample of the 30 000 GPs across England and Wales. Patient prescription data obtained on opiate misusers treated during the preceding 4 weeks.
settingPrimary healthcare practice in England and Wales in mid-2001.
methodA questionnaire was mailed to a random 10% sample of GPs stratified by number of partners in the practice, with three follow-up mailshots. Data on drugs prescribed by these practitioners were also studied, including drug prescribed, form, dose and dispensing arrangements.
resultsThe response rate was 66%. Opiate misusers had been seen by 51% of GPs in the preceding 4 weeks (mean of 4.1 such patients), of whom 50% had prescribed opiate-substitution drugs. This provided a study sample of 1482 opiate misusers to whom GPs were prescribing methadone (86.7%), dihydrocodeine (8.5%) or buprenorphine (4.4%). Of 1292 methadone prescriptions, mean daily dose was 36.9 mg - 47.9% being for 30 mg or less. Daily interval dispensing was stipulated by 44.6%, while 42.9% permitted weekly take-away supply.
conclusionsIn 2001 nearly three times as many GPs were seeing opiate misusers than was the case in 1985. Half were prescribing substitute-opiate drugs such as methadone (to an estimated 30 000 patients). However, there are grounds for concern about the quality of this prescribing. Most doses were too low to constitute optimal methadone maintenance; widespread disregard of the availability of supervised or interval dispensing increases the risks of diversion to the blackmarket and deaths from methadone overdose. Increased quantity of care has been achieved. Increased quality is now required.
Indexed as
Identifiers
15970068PMC1472740What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.