Six-year follow-up of opioid addicts after admission to treatment.

Long-term behavioral outcome status of 990 daily opioid users, recorded in follow-up interviews about six years after admission to community-based treatment programs, was classified in terms of longitudinal patterns of opioid use. Sixty-one percent of these individuals had achieved abstinence from opioid drugs for a year or longer immediately before the follow-up interview. Compared with those who continued heavy opioid drug use, and with others who had problems with nonopioid drugs or alcohol over time, persons who achieved abstinence also had significantly better long-term outcomes on criminality, use of nonopioid drugs and alcohol, and productive activities. Except for criminal history, outcome status was generally unrelated to client demographic and background predictors, but behavioral improvements over time were strongly associated with participation in drug abuse treatment.