Acceptability Of Injectable Extended-release Naltrexone Among Heroin Addicts In Xichang And Liuzhou

ObjectivesUnderstanding the acceptability of injectable extended-release naltrexone (vivitrol)in heroin addicts, to provide the reference for exploring the operation mode of vivitroltreatment in drug users in China.MethodsAdopt the method of combining quantitative research and qualitative research.Quantitative study is cross-sectional survey,367heroin addicts who are in Xichang andLiuzhou methadone maintenance treatment clinics and compulsory drug rehabilitationcenters were included as the research objects. Collecting their social demographiccharacteristics, drug use information, HIV/AIDS awareness, the cognitive, demand andevaluation of vivitrol etc through questionnaire survey. Qualitative research forindividuals is the one-to-one deep interviews,20heroin addicts,2methadonemaintenance treatment clinic staffs,2compulsory rehabilitation centers staffs wereselected, after informed consent, the record data were coded, induced and analysedaccording to the keywords or terms.Results1. Quantitative research367participates completed questionnaire survey, the response rate was99.2%.167people were in Xi chang, and200were in Liu zhou,165came from MMT clinics,and202were in compulsory drug rehabilitation center,287(78.2%) were men, mean age was37.8±7.8years old,268(73.0%) people were the Han,186(50.7%) weremarried or cohabiting and114(31.1%) were the single,173(47.1%) were unemployed,233(63.5%) have good relationship with my family.The average drug duration of respondents is14.1±6.8years,309(84.2%) onlyused heroin,2767(5.2%) people used drug by injection. Among them,34.4%(95/276)had Shared needles with others.341(92.9%) participants have knowledge aboutHIV/AIDS,53(14.4%) people reported HIV positive.211(57.5%) people accept vivitrol treatment, the main reasons are being better tostay away from drugs (53.1%), convenient treatment (38.9%), itself is not addictive(8.1%).167(45.5%) thought that if vivitrol therapy run, the treatment points wasinstalled in methadone clinic is the most appropriate;156(42.5%) people don’t acceptvivitrol treatment, the main reasons are the too high cost (57.1%), can’t completewithdrawal of opioid drugs for7-10days before using vivitrol (15.4%), worrying aboutthe side effects (13.5%), and no need to use drug for withdrawal (7.7%).The multiple logistic regression analysis showed that: the participants fromdifferent detoxification environment, different ages, have the different types of drug use,income status, whether have the confidence of withdrawal, have the differentacceptabilitis of vivitrol treatment (P <0.05), people come from the compulsory drugrehabilitation center, were26-40years old, only use heroin, have high income and havethe confidence of withdrawal are more willing to accept vivitrol treatment.2. Qualitative research:24participants were included, containing20heroin addicts, two methadonemaintenance treatment clinic staffs, two compulsory rehabilitation centers staffs. theaverage age of20heroin addicts is37.1±1.4;14people are male;11people are fromMMT clinics,7people unmarried,11people were married,2people divorced;2peoplehave poor relationships with family,11people have good relationship,3people are HIV positive. All of the respondents showed great interest to vivitrol treatment, and isgenerally think that vivitrol treatment will be beneficial to drug withdrawal and bringconvenience in daily life and work. But have different acceptability, mainly influrencedby complete withdrawal of opioids7~10days before use vivitrol and can’t afford1000yuan a month. Four staffs were expressed strong support with vivitrol treatment, butalso think it need do some support to solve problems in reality.ConclusionsThe heroin addicts in our research have a good acceptability of vivitrol treatment,and staffs in MMT or compulsory rehabilitation centers also have a high enthusiasm invivitrol treatment, they think that the drug use behavior will be reduced by vivitroltreatment and decrease the spread of the HIV/STD infection caused by drug injection.The study found that to insure vivitrol treatment is widely accepted and well developed,providing early rapid detoxification method to part of the heroin addicts who havedifficult to withdrawal, formulate reasonable treatment cost, to seek the perfectprocedure and enhance mental and family supporting. In appropriate cases, it isrecommended that the country can put some areas as pilot for vivitrol treatment, toexplore the problems and challenges will be faced in practical work, to observe actualtherapeutic effects, and settle the foundation of the next stage of vivitrol treatment inour country.