ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2018
Ageing opioid users' increased risk of methadone-specific death in the UK.
Article in The International journal on drug policy, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 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
- Explaining the Differences in Opioid Overdose Deaths between Scotland and England/Wales: Implications for European Opioid Policies.European addiction research · 2021Pooled it
- Assessing the disease burden of opioid use disorder in western europe: trends, gender differences, and future directions.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026Article
- Individuals 45 Years and Older in Opioid Agonist Treatment: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Cause-Specific Mortality among Patients in Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Multiple Settings: A Prospective Comparative Cohort Study.European addiction research · 2023Article
- Ageing and older people who use illicit opioids, cocaine or methamphetamine: a scoping review and literature map.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2022Article
- Healthcare utilization for somatic conditions among Swedish patients in opioid substitution treatment, with and without on-site primary healthcare.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Why are drug-related deaths among women increasing in Scotland? A mixed-methods analysis of possible explanations.Drugs (Abingdon, England) · 2022Article
- Identifying the changing age distribution of opioid-related mortality with high-frequency data.PloS one · 2022Article
- Problematic Opioid Use Among Older Adults: Epidemiology, Adverse Outcomes and Treatment Considerations.Drugs & aging · 2021Review
- Chronic Pain, Opioid Use Disorder, and Clinical Management Among Older Adults.Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing) · 2021Article
- Healthcare Contacts Regarding Circulatory Conditions among Swedish Patients in Opioid Substitution Treatment, with and without On-Site Primary Healthcare.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Functional evaluation of NKDrug and alcohol dependence · 2021Article
- 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
- Mechanisms and context in the San Patrignano drug recovery community, Italy: a qualitative study to inform transfer to Scotland.Drugs (Abingdon, England) · 2021Article
- Mortality and causes of death among patients with opioid use disorder receiving opioid agonist treatment: a national register study.BMC health services research · 2019Observational
- Non drug-related and opioid-specific causes of 3262 deaths in Scotland's methadone-prescription clients, 2009-2015.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2019Article
- Multiple Systems Estimation (or Capture-Recapture Estimation) to Inform Public Policy.Annual review of statistics and its application · 2018Article
- Cardiovascular Complications Following Acute Methadone Poisoning in Patients with and Without a History of Long-term Methadone Use.Journal of research in pharmacy practiceArticle
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Abstract
backgroundThe first evidence that the hazard ratio (HR) for methadone-specific death rises more steeply with age-group than for all drug-related deaths (DRDs) came from Scotland's cohort of 33,000 methadone-prescription clients. We aim to examine, for England, whether illicit opioid users' risk of methadone-specific death increases with age; and to pool age-related HRs for methadone-specific deaths with those for Scotland's methadone-prescription clients.
methodsThe setting is all services in England that provide publicly-funded, structured treatment for illicit opioid users, the methodology linkage of the English National Drug Treatment Monitoring System and mortality database, and key measurements are DRDs, methadone-specific DRDs, or heroin-specific DRDs, by age-group and gender, with proportional hazards adjustment for substances used, injecting status and periods in/out of treatment.
resultsLinkage was achieved for 129,979 adults receiving prescribing treatment modalities for opioid dependence during April 2005 to March 2009 and followed-up for 378,009 person-years (pys). There were 1,266 DRDs: 271 methadone-specific (7 per 10,000 pys: irrespective of gender) and 473 heroin-specific (15 per 10,000 pys for males, 7 for females). Methadone-specific DRD-rate per 10,000 person-years was 3.5 (95% CI: 2.7-4.4) at 18-34 years, 8.9 (CI: 7.3-10.5) at 35-44 years and 18 (CI: 13.8-21.2) at 45+ years; heroin-specific DRD-rate was unchanged with age. Relative to 25-34 years, pooled HRs for UK clients' methadone-specific deaths were: 0.87 at <25 years (95% CI: 0.56-1.35); 2.14 at 35-44 years (95% CI: 1.76-2.60); 3.75 at 45+ years (95% CI: 2.99-4.70).
conclusionInternational testing and explanation are needed of UK's sharp age-related increase in the risk of methadone-specific death. Clients should be alerted that their risk of methadone-specific death increases as they age.
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