Table 1.
Characteristics and current suicide risk of Buddhist and non-religious believers among Chinese persons receiving methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) for heroin dependence.
| Characteristics | Buddhist believers (n=61) | Non-religious believers (n=425) | Statistics | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinic* | ||||
| Diyi | 38 (62.3%) | 280 (65.9%) | ||
| Hanyangweimin | 14 (23.0%) | 74 (17.4%) | ||
| Gutian | 9 (14.8%) | 71 (16.7%) | χ2 = 1.132 | 0.568 |
| Gender: male* | 39 (63.9%) | 298 (70.1%) | χ2 = 0.959 | 0.327 |
| Age (years)# | 40.1 (7.2) | 39.1 (6.0) | t=1.118 | 0.264 |
| Education: junior high school and above* | 34 (55.7%) | 156 (36.7%) | χ2 = 8.115 | 0.004 |
| Marital status: non-married*$ | 30 (49.2%) | 211 (49.6%) | χ2 = 0.005 | 0.946 |
| Unemployment* | 27 (46.6%) | 189 (46.4%) | χ2 = 0.001 | 0.987 |
| Main route of heroin administration: smoking* | 13 (21.3%) | 68 (16.1%) | χ2 = 1.032 | 0.310 |
| Duration of heroin use (years)# | 10.8 (3.7) | 10.2 (4.2) | t = 1.073 | 0.284 |
| Duration of MMT (months)# | 24.7 (10.6) | 25.4 (10.5) | t = 0.452 | 0.652 |
| Dosage of methadone (mg/d)# | 68.3 (27.6) | 68.8 (27.6) | t = 0.149 | 0.882 |
| Pain* | 49 (80.3%) | 216 (50.8%) | χ2 = 18.728 | <0.001 |
| Depressive symptoms* | 36 (62.1%) | 145 (35.5%) | χ2 = 15.046 | <0.001 |
| Current suicide risk* | ||||
| No | 18 (29.5%) | 252 (59.3%) | ||
| Low | 28 (45.9%) | 105 (24.7%) | ||
| Medium | 3 (4.9%) | 15 (3.5%) | ||
| High | 12 (19.7%) | 53 (12.5%) | χ2 = 19.622 | <0.001 |
*Categorical variables are expressed as counts (percentages).
#Continuous variables are expressed as means (standard deviation).
$”Non-married” includes never-married, separated, cohabitating, divorced, and widowed.
MMT, methadone maintenance therapy.