Factors associated with employment among methadone patients.

We examined the patient characteristics of 340 subjects in methadone treatment to determine if these characteristics could differentiate among three "stages" of work during the past year (stable unemployment, intermittent work, and stable employment). A multiple discriminant function analysis was able to classify correctly 14% of the cases beyond chance. Results of these analyses found lower depression scores, cocaine abstinence, education, and marital status correlated with stable employment conditions. Interventions designed to change these characteristics may improve employment conditions among methadone patients.