DRUG-USE AND INJECTION RISK-TAKING AMONG PRISON METHADONE-MAINTENANCEPATIENTS

Aims. To examine the drug use and injection risk-taking among incarcer ated methadone maintenance (MM) patients; to determine the impact of a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) on prison-based 1 12M treatment; to compare incarcerated patients with community patient s. Design. Structured interview. Settings. New South Wales (NSW) priso ns and community methadone maintenance (MM) units. Participants. One h undred incarcerated MM patients and 183 community MM patients. Measure ments. Subjects were interviewed about drug use and needle risk-taking in the previous 6 months, and assessed for a diagnosis of ASPD. Findi ngs. Heroin had been used by 38% of prison MM patients in the 6 months prior to interview, on a median of 4.5 days. Forty-four per cent of p rison patients had injected a drug in the preceding 6 months. A third (32%) of prison subjects had borrowed used injecting equipment within the preceding 6 months, and 35% had lent used injecting equipment to o thers. Community patients were move likely to have injected a drug in the preceding 6 months (84% vs. 44%), to have used heroin (72% vs. 38% ) and to have done so more frequently (20 vs. 4.5 days). Prisoners, ho wever, were more likely to have borrowed (32% vs. 15%) and lent (35% v s. 21%) injecting equipment in that time. While injecting at lower rat es than their community counterparts, the injecting occasions of priso ners were of much higher levels of risk. A diagnosis of ASPD was unrel ated to both drug use and needle risk-taking. Conclusions. Incarcerate d patients injected less frequently than community patients, but had h igher levels of needle risk-taking.