Treatment retention, occupational role, and cocaine use in methadone maintenance

The authors interviewed methadone maintenance patients (N = 264) reporting cocaine use in the previous year to examine the relationship between treatment retention, occupational role, and continued cocaine use. Treatment retention was positively correlated with reduced cocaine use. Patients who had been in treatment longer than 6 months were less likely to have used cocaine in the previous month than patients who had been in treatment 6 months or less. Patients who were employed full-time, were full-time homemakers, or full-time students were less likely to have used cocaine in the previous month than those who were unemployed or employed only part-time or occasionally. The effects of occupational role and treatment retention were additive.