ArticleSubstance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy2020
Health-related quality of life of long-term patients receiving opioid agonist therapy: a nested prospective cohort study in Norway.
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 27 papers.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effect of integrated hepatitis C virus treatment on psychological distress in people with substance use disorders.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Factors associated with changes in opioid analgesic prescribing after opioid agonist treatment initiation: A nationwide registry cohort study.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Article
- Facilitators and Challenges in Oral Health Care for Iranian Patients Undergoing Opioid Maintenance Treatment: A Qualitative Study.Addiction & health · 2026Article
- Quality of life measures in treatment for active substance misuse: a scoping review.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Comparing quality of life methadone and buprenorphine for opioid substitution treatment in Iran.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Quality of Life, Perceived Social Support, and Treatment Adherence Among Methadone Maintenance Program Users: An Observational Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Associations between happiness with social factors and opioid agonist therapy among people who inject drugs.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Psychosocial correlates of depression and anxiety among treatment-seeking individuals with opioid dependence: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Yoga and Physical Therapy for Chronic Pain and Opioid Use Disorder Onsite in an Opioid Treatment Program: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Substance use & addiction journal · 2025Article
- Universal Health Coverage of Opioid Agonist Treatment in Norway: An Equity-Adjusted Economic Evaluation.PharmacoEconomics · 2025Article
- Evaluating Quality of Life Changes over 12 Months Among Opiate Users from Romania and Associated Worsening Factors.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Are the self-stigma and perceived stigma of patients treated with methadone or buprenorphine still a problem fifty years after the marketing authorization for opioid agonist treatment? The observational STIGMA study.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2024Observational
- Article
- Change in self-reported somatic symptoms among patients in opioid maintenance treatment from baseline to 1-year follow-up.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Effectiveness of Long-Term Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain in an Outpatient Palliative Medicine Clinic.Journal of palliative medicine · 2024Article
- Characteristics and quality of life of people living with comorbid disorders in substance use recovery residences.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Health-related quality of life among people who inject drugs in Australia.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2023Observational
- Benzodiazepine use, quality of life and psychiatric symptom burden in oral and injectable opioid agonist treatment: a cross-sectional study.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2023Article
- Incidence of suicide and self-harm among people with opioid use disorder and the impact of opioid agonist treatment: A retrospective data linkage study.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOpioid dependence carries the highest disease burden of all illicit drugs. Opioid agonist therapy (OAT) is an evidence-based medical intervention that reduces morbidity and mortality. There is limited knowledge on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of long-term patients in OAT. This study measures HRQoL and self-perceived health of long-term patients on OAT, compares the scores to a Norwegian reference population, and assesses changes in these scores at 1-year follow up.
methodsWe conducted a nested prospective cohort study among nine OAT outpatient clinics in Norway. 609 OAT patients were included, 245 (40%) followed-up one year later. Data on patient characteristics, HRQoL, and self-perceived health was collected. HRQoL was assessed with the EQ-5D-5L, which measures five dimensions (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression) on a five-point Likert scale (from "no problems" to "extreme problems"). An UK value set was applied to calculate index values (from 0 to 1) for the EQ-5D-5L and compare them to a Norwegian reference population. Self-perceived health was measured with EQ-VAS (from 0 to 100).
resultsMean (standard deviation (SD)) EQ-5D-5L index value at baseline was 0.699 (0.250) and EQ-VAS 57 (22) compared to 0.848 (0.200) and 80(19) for the Norwegian reference population. There were large variations in EQ-5D-5L index values, where 43% had > 0.8 and 5% had < 0.2 at baseline. The lowest EQ-5D-5L index values were observed for female patients, age groups older than 40 years and for methadone users. At follow-up, improvements in HRQoL were observed across almost all dimensions and found significant for mobility and pain/discomfort. Mean (SD) overall index value and EQ-VAS at follow up were 0.729 (0.237) and 59 (22) respectively.
conclusionThe average HRQoL and self-perceived health of OAT patients is significantly lower than that of the general population, and lower than what has been found among other severe somatic and psychiatric conditions. Around 34% had very good HRQoL, higher than average Norwegian values, and around 5% had extremely poor HRQoL.
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