Abstinence orientation and treatment practice: an analysis of German settings providing opioid maintenance therapy.

We examined whether differences in abstinence orientation are related to differences in treatment patterns by analyzing assessment data from a total of 161 German treatment settings offering opioid maintenance therapy. According to an index value, settings were divided into low (LAOs), medium (MAOs), and high abstinence-oriented settings (HAOs). Logistic, multinomial logistic, and linear regression analyses were carried out. HAOs prescribed lower maximum dosages of methadone and enforced rules for handling of concomitant drug use more rigidly than MAOs and LAOs. Patients in HAOs were more likely to undergo psychotherapeutic and psychiatric treatment than in MAOs and LAOs. Limitations, conclusions, and future research are suggested.