CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 114Opioid Use Disorder TreatmentSubstance Abuse Treatment and OutcomesHIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 52 of the 58 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Methadone maintenance treatment programme reduces criminal activity and improves social well-being of drug users in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Open access
Sun, Hua-Min, Li, Xiao-Yan, Chow, Eric P F, Li, Tong, Xian, Yun, Lu, Yi-Hua, Tian, Tian, Zhuang, Xun, Zhang, Lei·2015·BMJ Open
DOI 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005997PMC PMC4289728
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Objective: Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) has been implemented in China since 2004 and has expanded into a nationwide programme. This study aims to evaluate changes in social functioning, family relations and drug-related criminal behaviour among MMT clients in China. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: Both English and Chinese literature databases, including PubMed, Chongqing VIP Chinese Science and Technology Journals Database (CQVIP), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Wanfang Data, were comprehensively searched over the period 2004–2014 for studied indicators. Study selection, quality assessment and data extraction were conducted according to the PRISMA (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses) Statement. Meta-analyses were conducted using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Biostat software. Results: Thirty-eight articles were included in this review (1 in English and 37 in Chinese). The self-reported arrest rate decreased from 13.1% (95% CI 9.1% to 18.5%) at baseline to 3.4% (95% CI 1.5% to 7.7%) and 4.3% (95% CI 1.6% to 11.4%) after 6 and 12 months of MMT intervention, respectively. The rate of drug selling decreased from 7.6% (95% CI 3.8% to 14.8%) at baseline to 1.9% (95% CI 0.6% to 6.2%) and 3.0% (95% CI 1.0% to 8.9%) after 6 and 12 months of intervention, respectively. Similarly, the rates of selling sex for drugs and drug-related crime decreased from 5.3% (95% CI 2.4% to 11.1%) and 9.9% (95% CI 6.8% to 14.2%) at baseline to 1.1% (95% CI 0.5% to 2.3%) and 3.4% (95% CI 2.5% to 4.5%) at 6 months, then to 0.8% (95% CI 0.3% to 1.9%) and 3.4% (95% CI 0.8% to 13.1%) at 12 months after treatment initiation, respectively. In contrast, the rate of employment of clients and the proportion of clients having a good relationship with their family increased substantially from 26.4% (95% CI 22.9% to 30.1%) and 37.9% (95% CI 32.0% to 44.2%) to 41.6% (95% CI 36.6% to 48.0%) and 59.6% (95% CI 48.1% to 70.2%) at 6 months, then to 59.8% (95% CI 52.4% to 66.8%) and 75.0% (95% CI 69.0% to 80.2%) at 12 months after treatment initiation, respectively. Conclusions: MMT has significantly reduced criminal activity, and improved employment rate and social well-being, of clients of the MMT programme. MMT is an effective measure to help drug users to resume societal and familial functions in China.

Overview

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005997

Cites

52 of 52 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Verification

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • In justice-involved populations, evidence-based SUD treatment is effective in reducing substance use, re-offending, and re-incarceration, and in facilitating recovery.

    “In justice- involved populations, evidence- based SUD treat ment is effective in reducing substance use as well as re- offending and re- incarceration, and in facilitating recovery 343- 346 .”

    From Substance use disorders: a comprehensive update of classification, epidemiology, neurobiology, clinical aspects, treatment and prevention (2023) · cites this paper as [345]

    The Results (Criminal activities; page unavailable) report lower arrest and drug-related crime rates among methadone maintenance clients in China, and the Conclusions describe improved social well-being and a return to society. The review concerns drug users receiving methadone maintenance, not specifically justice-involved populations or evidence-based SUD treatment generally. It does not establish reductions in re-incarceration, and its crime measures do not specifically establish re-offending. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Citations

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

6 of the 58 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. Ball, 1998, HIV prevention among injecting drug users: responses in developing and transitional countries, Public Health Rep, 113, S170
  2. Ttrathdee, 2001, The effectiveness of needle exchange programs: a review of the science and policy, AIDScience, 1, 1
  3. 10.1176/appi.ajp.105.12.909 · DOI
  4. Joseph, 1995, A point in time: the impact of expanded methadone maintenance treatment on citywide crime and public health in New York City 1971–1973, Arch public health, 53, 215
  5. Wu Z . Landmark government methadone maintenance program in mainland China. 15th International AIDS Conference; 2004.
  6. Wu Z . Methadone maintenance program in mainland China: from pilot to scale-up. International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm; 20–24. 2005.
  7. Chen, 2008, Effectiveness evaluation of six month community-based methadone treatment in Jiangsu Province, Chin J AIDS STD, 14, 590

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Metadata

Authors
Sun, H.-M., Li, X.-Y., Chow, E. P. F., Li, T., Xian, Y., Lu, Y.-H., Tian, T., Zhuang, X., & Zhang, L.
Affiliations
  • Nantong University (CN)
  • Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Nantong University, Jiangsu, China
  • The Alfred Hospital (AU)
Corresponding author
Zhang, Lei
ORCID
Venue
BMJ Open
Publisher
BMJ
Published
2015-01
Volume
5
Issue
1
Pages
e005997
ISSN
2044-6055 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005997
PMC
PMC4289728
OpenAlex
W2010754558
Cited by
114
References
58
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 3
FWCI
2.16
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc
Locations
  • BMJ Open (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
Funders
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (81373060)
  • Nantong University
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk
Keywords
methadone maintenance treatment, opioid use disorder, drug offenses, arrest rates, drug selling, social functioning, family relationships, social well-being, China, harm reduction, drug users
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, China, Crime, Employment, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Methadone, Middle Aged, Opioid-Related Disorders, Narcotics, Drug Users, Young Adult, Opiate Substitution Treatment, Maintenance Chemotherapy, Social Skills

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review