ArticleBMC family practice2009
Chronic illness and multimorbidity among problem drug users: a comparative cross sectional pilot study in primary care.
Article in BMC family practice, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Barriers and facilitators to primary care engagement for people who inject drugs: A systematic review.Journal of nursing scholarship : an official publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing · 2023Pooled it
- Frequency of health-care utilization by adults who use illicit drugs: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2020Pooled it
- Feasibility of alcohol screening among patients receiving opioid treatment in primary care.BMC family practice · 2016Trial
- Prescription medication exchange patterns among methadone maintenance patients.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2013Trial
- Patterns of medical comorbidities among aging people receiving heroin-assisted treatment: A 10-year single-center repeated cross-sectional study.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Article
- Comprehensive Care for People Who Use Drugs: Combining Infectious Diseases Services, Harm Reduction, and Primary Care.Open forum infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Article
- Latent polydrug use patterns and the provision of injection initiation assistance among people who inject drugs in three North American settings.Drug and alcohol review · 2023Article
- Multimorbidity classes indicate differential patterns of health care engagement among people who inject drugs.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2022Article
- Bacterial and fungal coinfections among patients with COVID-19 in Zanjan, Northwest of Iran; a single-center observational with meta-analysis of the literature.Iranian journal of microbiology · 2022Article
- COVID-19 vaccination coverage and vaccine hesitancy among people with opioid use disorder in Barcelona, Spain.Drug and alcohol review · 2022Article
- Health care-seeking experiences for people who inject drugs with hepatitis C: Qualitative explorations of stigma.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2022Article
- Disparities in Oral Nutritional Supplement Usage and Dispensing Patterns across Primary Care in Ireland: ONSPres Project.Nutrients · 2022Article
- "They look at us like junkies": influences of drug use stigma on the healthcare engagement of people who inject drugs in New York City.Harm reduction journal · 2020Article
- Key Worker-Mediated Enhancement of Physical Health in First Episode Psychosis: Protocol For a Feasibility Study in Primary Care.JMIR research protocols · 2019Article
- Is problem alcohol use being detected and treated in Irish general practice?BMC family practice · 2018Article
- Problem alcohol use among problem drug users: development and content of clinical guidelines for general practice.Irish journal of medical science · 2014Article
- Multimorbidity in patients enrolled in a community-based methadone maintenance treatment programme delivered through primary care.Journal of comorbidity · 2014Article
- Psychosocial interventions for alcohol use among problem drug users: protocol for a feasibility study in primary care.JMIR research protocols · 2013Article
- Establishing the Melbourne Injecting Drug User Cohort Study (MIX): rationale, methods, and baseline and twelve-month follow-up results.Harm reduction journal · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough multimorbidity has important implications for patient care in general practice, limited research has examined chronic illness and health service utilisation among problem drug users. This study aimed to determine chronic illness prevalence and health service utilisation among problem drug users attending primary care for methadone treatment, to compare these rates with matched 'controls' and to develop and pilot test a valid study instrument.
methodsA cross-sectional study of patients attending three large urban general practices in Dublin, Ireland for methadone treatment was conducted, and this sample was compared with a control group matched by practice, age, gender and General Medical Services (GMS) status.
resultsData were collected on 114 patients. Fifty-seven patients were on methadone treatment, of whom 52(91%) had at least one chronic illness (other then substance use) and 39(68%) were prescribed at least one regular medication. Frequent utilisation of primary care services and secondary care services in the previous six months was observed among patients on methadone treatment and controls, although the former had significantly higher chronic illness prevalence and primary care contact rates. The study instrument facilitated data collection that was feasible and with minimal inter-observer variation.
conclusionMultimorbidity is common among problem drug users attending general practice for methadone treatment. Primary care may therefore have an important role in primary and secondary prevention of chronic illnesses among this population. This study offers a feasible study instrument for further work on this issue. (238 words).
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