Opioid substitution therapy to reduce deaths in prison

One cohort study (Larney et al., 2014) enrolling N=16 715 opioid dependent people who were in prison between 2000 and 2012 showed that:

• being in OST was associated with a 74% lower hazard of dying in prison (adjusted HR (AHR) 0.26; 95% CI 0.13 to 0.50), compared to time not in OST
• being in OST was associated with a 87% lower hazard of unnatural death (adjusted HR (AHR) 0.13; 95% CI 0.05 to 0.35), compared to time not in OST
• being in OST was associated with a 94% lower all-cause mortality hazard during the first 4 weeks of incarceration (adjusted HR (AHR) 0.06; 95% CI 0.01 to 0.48), compared to time not in OST
• being in OST was associated with a 93% lower hazard of unnatural death during the first 4 weeks of incarceration (adjusted HR (AHR)  0.07; 95% CI 0.01 to 0.59), compared to time not in OST