Barriers to accessing and using health insurance cards among methadone maintenance treatment patients in northern Vietnam

Treatment trajectories and barriers in opioid agonist therapy for people who inject drugs in rural Puerto Rico

BACKGROUND

Research has shown medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) to have positive effects, including reducing HIV and HCV transmission, but important barriers to access remain among people who inject drugs (PWID). Barriers include lack of social and familial support, bureaucracy, distance to treatment, poverty, and homelessness. However, we know little about how these barriers interact with each other to shape PWID's drug treatment access and retention.

METHODS

We used qualitative methods with a dataset from a study conducted during 2019 with 31 active PWID residing in rural Puerto Rico. The study gathered ethnographic data and narratives about treatment trajectories to document the lived experiences of PWID as they moved in and out of treatment.

RESULTS

Participants were at least 18 years old; 87.7% were male, the mean age was 44.1 years, and the mean age at first injection was 22 years. Participants identified homelessness, lack of proper ID or other identifying documents, and previous negative experiences with MOUD as the main barriers to treatment entry and retention. In addition, PWID's belief that MOUD simply substitutes an illegal drug for a legal one, while furthering drug dependence by chronically subjecting patients to treatment, constitutes an additional barrier to entry. Findings from this study demonstrate that MOUD barriers to access and retention compound and are severely affected by poverty and other forms of vulnerability among PWID in rural Puerto Rico.

CONCLUSION

Policies to increase access and retention should consider barriers not in isolation but as an assemblage of many factors.

Barriers and Facilitators to Substance Use Disorder Treatment in Low-and Middle-Income Countries: A Qualitative Review Synthesis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

One of the ways to address the treatment gap for substance use disorders is to understand the barriers and facilitators to treatment. This study aimed to synthesize the literature on barriers and facilitators of treatment in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs).

METHODS

We search Medline electronic database to identify English language peer reviewed empirical studies, both qualitative and quantitative which reported barriers and/or facilitators of treatment of substance use disorders.

RESULTS

Of 1389 titles, we selected 28 studies (14 were qualitative and 14 quantitative studies). The sample sizes of the qualitative studies ranged from 11 to 235. The majority of studies were from community or clinic settings. A wide range of barriers and facilitators were identified from the qualitative studies and were synthesized according to perceived susceptibility/seriousness, self-efficacy, perceived costs, perceived benefits, and cues to action. Most of the quantitative studies were community-based cross sectional-observational by design. Commonly identified barriers in these quantitative studies were perceived lack of problem or lack of need for treatment and low motivation whereas factors such as good family support and availability of effective treatment was found to facilitate substance use disorder treatment.

CONCLUSION

There are a wide range of barriers that hinder the substance use disorder treatment as well as certain factors that facilitate the treatment. Addressing them can help to minimize the treatment gap, which in turn can help in reducing the familial and social burden due to substance use disorders.

Changes in quality of life and its associated factors among illicit drug users in Vietnamese mountainous provinces: a 12-month follow-up study

Background

Sustainability of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) program involves regularly assessing its impact on health and social outcomes of drug users in different settings, particularly in disadvantaged areas. In this study, we evaluated the change in quality of life (QoL), and identified associated factors amongst drug users over the course of 12-month MMT in Vietnamese mountainous provinces.

Methods

We conducted a longitudinal study among patients from 6 MMT clinics in three mountainous provinces of Vietnam. At baseline, we screened 300 participants and after a 12-month treatment, 244 participants remained to involve in the study. World Health Organization Quality of Life short form instrument (WHOQOL-BREF) was used to measure the QoL of patients. The magnitude of the changes was extrapolated.

Results

There were significant changes in all four dimensions of quality of life measured by WHOQoL-BREF between baseline and 12 months with the effect size ranged from 0.21 to 0.24. Increased age, being workers compared to unemployment and having health problems or comorbidities were positively related to reduced scores of QoL.

Conclusions

To conclude, we observed a significant increase in the QoL level regarding physical, psychological, social relationships and environmental aspects among people who used drug after 12 months of MMT. Findings from this study emphasize the role of continuously receiving MMT treatment among people using drugs to enhance their QoL.

Child Desire Among Men and Women Living with HIV/AIDS in the Traditional Culture of Vietnam

In various settings, heterogeneity in fertility rates among HIV-affected couples highlights the importance of understanding contextual factors to inform program planning and implementation. We interviewed 1016 patients with HIV/AIDS at seven clinics in Vietnam to assess their desire to have a(nother) child and willingness to pay (WTP) for prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) services. One-fifth of participants reported their desire for a(another) child and this was slightly higher among men than women. Factors associated with the desire to have a(nother) child of HIV/AIDS patients included (1) not yet have a child or a son, (2) provincial and district-level service, (3) income per capita, (4) marital status and (5) history of drug injection. The average WTP for PMTCT service was US $179 (95% CI 161-197). The study highlights the need for interventions on social, cultural barriers, improved accessibility and outcomes of counseling, and better care and treatment services for couples and child affected by HIV/AIDS.