SynthesisThe American journal of drug and alcohol abuse2009
A meta-analysis of retention in methadone maintenance by dose and dosing strategy.
Synthesis in The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 77 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
77 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Evidence-based consensus guidelines for the pharmacological management of substance dependence: Recommendations from the British Association for Psychopharmacology.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Guideline
- Oral and injectable opioid agonist treatments for people who use street opioids: a systematic literature review and network meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Association between rs1799971 in the mu opioid receptor gene and methadone maintenance treatment response.Journal of clinical laboratory analysis · 2022Pooled it
- Acupuncture for Opioid Dependence Patients Receiving Methadone Maintenance Treatment: A Network Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Dihydrocodeine for detoxification and maintenance treatment in individuals with opiate use disorders.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Methadone maintenance treatment participant retention and behavioural effectiveness in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2013Pooled it
- A pilot randomized clinical trial of mindfulness-oriented recovery enhancement as an adjunct to methadone treatment for people with opioid use disorder and chronic pain: Impact on illicit drug use, health, and well-being.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2021Trial
- Concurrent Heroin Use and Correlates among Methadone Maintenance Treatment Clients: A 12-Month Follow-up Study in Guangdong Province, China.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2016Trial
- Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Opiate Use and Retention in Methadone Maintenance Treatment in China: A Randomised Trial.PloS one · 2015Trial
- Impact of opioid agonist therapies on non-fatal and fatal overdose: treatment patterns among individuals with opioid use disorder in Ontario, Canada.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Seventeen years of experience: a retrospective cohort analysis of methadone maintenance treatment program patterns in Georgia.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Leveraging the 72-Hour Rule Change to Support Transition From Hospital to Opioid Treatment Program.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Implementation opportunities for optimizing retention on buprenorphine treatment for people with opioid use disorder in West Virginia.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Impact of hepatitis C serostatus on health service utilization for opioid-related harms among individuals prescribed opioid agonist therapy: A longitudinal prospective cohort study.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Article
- Examining the association between fentanyl use and perceived adequacy of methadone dose: A retrospective cohort study.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Commentary With Study Protocol: Implementation and Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) as an Adjunct to Methadone Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder (IMPOWR-MORE).Substance use & addiction journal · 2025Article
- Early experiences and impacts of a fentanyl powder safer supply program in Vancouver, Canada: a qualitative study.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2025Article
17 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo estimate, via meta-analysis, the influence of different methadone dose ranges and dosing strategies on retention rates in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT).
methodsA systematic literature search identified 18 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating methadone dose and retention. Retention was defined as the percentage of patients remaining in treatment at a specified time point. After initial univariate analyses of retention by Pearson chi-squares, we used multilevel logistic regression to calculate summary odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals for the effects of methadone dose (above or below 60 mg/day), flexible vs. fixed dosing strategy, and duration of follow-up.
resultsThe total number of opioid-dependent participants in the 18 studies was 2831, with 1797 in MMT and 1034 receiving alternative mediations or placebo. Each variable significantly predicted retention with the other variables controlled for. Retention was greater with methadone doses > or = 60 than with doses < 60 (OR: 1.74, 95% CI: 1.43-2.11). Similarly, retention was greater with flexible-dose strategies than with fixed-dose strategies (OR: 1.72, 95% CI: 1.41-2.11).
conclusionsHigher doses of methadone and individualization of doses are each independently associated with better retention in MMT.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What 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.