Table 2.
Characteristics of heroin use and depressive symptoms among heroin users who are or are not enrolled in an outpatient methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) program
| characteristic |
MMT group mean (sd) (n=929) |
untreated group mean (sd) (n=238) |
statistic | p-value |
| total daily dose of heroin (gm) | 0.80 (0.07) | 0.65 (0.11) | t=1.33 | 0.184 |
| dose of heroin each time used (gm) | 0.33 (0.04) | 0.21 (0.02) | t=5.89 | <0.001 |
| daily frequency of heroin use (times) | 2.25 (0.72) | 3.41 (0.81) | t=12.56 | <0.001 |
| maximum one-time dose of heroin (gm) | 0.57 (0.05) | 0.44 (0.03) | t=3.64 | <0.001 |
| duration of heroin use (years) | 9.86 (3.10) | 11.48 (3.21) | t=3.89 | <0.001 |
| median (IQR) BDI-13 total scorea | 8.0 (5.7-11.6) | 10.4 (7.9-14.4) | Z=2.75 | 0.006 |
| Classification of BDI-13 total score | ||||
| no depressive symptoms | 301 (32.4%) | 50 (21.1%) | χ2=12.33 | 0.006 |
| mild depressive symptoms | 148 (15.9%) | 41 (17.2%) | ||
| moderate depressive symptoms | 301 (32.4%) | 96 (40.3%) | ||
| serious depressive symptoms | 179 (19.3%) | 51 (21.4%) |
BDI-13, 13-item Beck Depression Inventory[9]
IQR, interquartile range
a the distribution of BDI-13 total score in both groups was skewed, so the Mann-Whitney test was used