TITLE:
The Evolution of the Health Status and Quality of Life of Heroin Addicts Treated with Methadone in the City of Tangier, Morocco
AUTHORS:
Wafae Samlali Idrissi, Ahmed Omar Tohami Ahami, Tarik Ghaihlan, Fatima-Zahra Azzaoui, Khaoula Mammad
KEYWORDS:
Substitution Treatment, Methadone, Heroin, Addiction, Quality of Life, Opiate, Health Status
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.9 No.4,
April
9,
2018
ABSTRACT: Opiate substitution treatment with methadone (STM) is one of the most effective means of treating heroin addiction. It presents itself as a beneficial treatment for health, and insertion into work but also for the reduction of infectious risks and crime. Improving the quality of life of patients during treatment including social and relational life and somatic state has been considered by some research to be more important than abstinence from the substance itself. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of methadone treatment on the quality of life of 101 drug-addicted patients in a health center in Tangier city, including the possible improvement of their socio-professional, relational and somatic state, using the characters of the official questionnaires of request of cure and based on the multidisciplinary method of the ASI (Addiction Severity Index). Our questionnaire included a rubric for sociodemographic data and another one for the evaluation of the impact of this treatment on the somatic, socio-professional and relational state of the patients according to two periods: before and after the treatment, and according to the duration of the treatment. The results obtained showed an improvement in the somatic state including weight, sleep, nutritional status and socio-occupational and relational status after inclusion in treatment.