Work predictors of lapse in patients under treatment of methadone maintenance therapy

Background: addiction to narcotics can cause serious problems and monetary losses. therapeutic success can be predicted through identifying lapse risk factors. objective: determining job risk factor of lapse. methods: this was a cross sectional study on 351 addicts visiting five methadone clinics. a data collection sheet consisting of questions on demographic and job information was filled up through direct interviews. information relating to lapse in the first month was analyzed. results: the mean (sd) age of the participants was 40(12) years; of them,74% were employed,of whom 34% had lapsed. a relationship was noticed between education qualification (secondary school compared with higher and lower education) and lapse (p =.04),and also between type of drug abuse (amphetamine) and lapse (p =.001). conclusion: lapse was more dependent on type of drug abused,and employment had a protective role,with no correlation with the type of job and other job conditions. non- work factors mediated/suppressed the role of occupational conditions.