Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32156295›Full record

ArticleSubstance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy2020

Implementation of opioid maintenance treatment in prisons in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany - a top down approach.

Kathrin Böhmer, Henrike Schecke, Irmgard Render, Norbert Scherbaum

Open access · goldAbstract readEvaluation Study
In one paragraph

Article in Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 36% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. [Therapy of substance use disorders in correctional settings].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Kathrin BöhmerDepartment of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine, LVR-Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Virchowstr. 174, 45 147, Essen, Germany. kathrin.boehmer@lvr.de.
Henrike ScheckeDepartment of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine, LVR-Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Virchowstr. 174, 45 147, Essen, Germany.
Irmgard RenderMinistry of Justice of North-Rhine Westphalia, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Norbert ScherbaumDepartment of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine, LVR-Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Virchowstr. 174, 45 147, Essen, Germany.
University of Duisburg-Essen · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOpioid Maintenance Treatment (OMT) is a well-evaluated treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). Especially, under the condition of imprisonment, OMT is a preventive measure regarding infectious diseases such as hepatitis C. However, only a minority of prisoners with OUD are currently in OMT in numerous countries. In 2009, the Ministry of Justice of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany, launched the process of implementing OMT in prisons with various elements (e.g. development of recommendations regarding the treatment of prisoners with OUD, monitoring the number of prisoners in OMT, education of prison doctors). In the recommendations OMT was defined as the gold standard of treatment of OUD.

methodsTo assess the effectiveness of the implementation strategy a survey on the prevalence of OMT in prisons in NRW was carried out twice a year by the Ministry of Justice between 2008 and 2016. Participants were prisoners in NRW, Germany. The diagnosis of OUD at admission to prison and the treatment state on survey dates was measured.

resultsThe number of prisoners in NRW dropped from 17,301 in 2008 to 16,432 in 2016. In the same period, the number of prisoners with OUD (mainly males) dropped from 4201 persons to 3650 persons and the number of prisoners in OMT increased from 139 persons (3.3%) to 1415 (38.7%) persons. DISCUSSION: Currently, the percentage of prisoners with OUD in OMT in NRW is almost reaching the treatment rate outside prisons in Germany (45-50%). However, after release from prison there is still a high risk for a discontinuation of OMT.

conclusionsOverall, the top-down approach of implementing OMT in prisons in the federal state of NRW was effective.

Indexed as

Opiate Substitution TreatmentPrisonsFemaleGermanyHumansMaleOpioid-Related DisordersProgram EvaluationSurveys and QuestionnairesGermanyOMTOpioid maintenance treatmentPrison

Identifiers

PMID32156295
PMCPMC7065365
OpenAlexW3011780878

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Registered trials

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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.