SynthesisPloS one2013
Methadone maintenance treatment participant retention and behavioural effectiveness in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03705143 (The Behavioral Activation for Chinese Substance Users), which is not on this map. Cited by 43 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
The Behavioral Activation for Chinese Substance Users (C-BA) Research Protocol
Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 68 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Immunogenicity persistence after four intramuscular triple-dose or standard-dose hepatitis B vaccine in patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment: A 1-year follow-up study in China.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2025Trial
- A pilot study of a smartphone application supporting recovery from drug addiction.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2018Trial
- Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Opiate Use and Retention in Methadone Maintenance Treatment in China: A Randomised Trial.PloS one · 2015Trial
- Seventeen years of experience: a retrospective cohort analysis of methadone maintenance treatment program patterns in Georgia.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- An analysis of factors influencing dropout in methadone maintenance treatment program in Dehong Prefecture of China based on Cox regression and decision tree modelling.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Machine learning model for predicting hepatitis C seroconversion in methadone maintenance patients in China.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- Article
- Opioid relapse and its predictors among methadone maintenance patients: a multicenter, cross-sectional study in Vietnam.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- Predictors of Retention and Drug Use Among Patients With Opioid Use Disorder Transferred to a Specialty "Second Chance" Methadone Program.Substance abuse : research and treatment · 2022Article
- Mobile methadone dispensing in Delhi, India: implementation research.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2021Article
- Sociodemographic Factors Associated With HIV/HCV High-Risk Behaviors Among People Who Use Drugs on Methadone Maintenance Treatment: A 10-Year Observational Study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
- Adherence among HIV-positive injection drug users undergoing methadone treatment in Taiwan.BMC psychiatry · 2020Article
- Thymoquinone: FromIranian journal of basic medical sciences · 2020Review
- HIV testing and ART initiation in people who inject drugs and are placed on methadone in Kachin State, Myanmar.Public health action · 2020Article
- Effectiveness of a Psycho-Social Intervention Aimed at Reducing Attrition at Methadone Maintenance Treatment Clinics: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- Struggling to achieve a 'normal life': A qualitative study of Vietnamese methadone patients.The International journal on drug policy · 2019Article
- The Decade-Long Chinese Methadone Maintenance Therapy Yields Large Population and Economic Benefits for Drug Users in Reducing Harm, HIV and HCV Disease Burden.Frontiers in public health · 2019Article
- HIV, HBV and HCV in people who inject drugs and are placed on methadone maintenance therapy, Yangon, Myanmar.Public health action · 2018Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMethadone maintenance treatment (MMT) has been scaled up by the Chinese government alongside persistent compulsory drug user detention, but the extent to which detention interferes with MMT is unknown. The study systematically reviews Chinese MMT retention rates, reasons for drop out, and behavioural changes.
methodChinese and English databases of literature are searched for studies reporting retention rates, drug use and sexual behaviours among MMT participants in China between 2004 and 2013. The estimates are summarized through a systematic review and meta-analysis.
resultsA total of 74 studies representing 43,263 individuals are included in this analysis. About a third of MMT participants drop out during the first three months of treatment (retention rate 69.0% (95% CI 57.7-78.4%)). Police arrest and detention in compulsory rehabilitation was the most common cause of drop out, accounting for 22.2% of all those not retained. Among retained participants, changing unsafe drug use behaviours was more effective than changing unsafe sexual behaviours. At 12 months following MMT initiation, 24.6% (15.7-33.5%) of MMT participants had a positive urine test, 9.3% (4.7-17.8%) injected drugs and only 1.1% (0.4-3.0%) sold sex for drugs. These correspond to 0.002 (<0.001-0.011), 0.045 (0.004-0.114) and 0.209 (0.076-0.580) times lower odds than baseline. However, MMT participants did not have substantial changes in condom use rates.
conclusionMMT is effective in drug users in China but participant retention is poor, substantially related to compulsory detention. Reforming the compulsory drug user detention system may improve MMT retention and effectiveness.
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.