The rate of MMT discontinuation in our study (22%) was lower than has been observed other settings, where six-month retention rates typically range from 46 to 65% (Farré, Mas, Torrens, Moreno, & Camí, 2002 ; Magura et al., 1998; Nosyk et al., 2010 ; Reisinger et al., 2009). MMT provision in the province of British Columbia, Canada, is provided in the setting of ‘low threshold’ programs, where efforts are made to minimize barriers to service access, including through use of pharmacy-delegated methadone delivery services and outreach models of care, and by not requiring abstinence from drug use as a condition of MMT access (Mofizul Islam, Topp, Conigrave, & Day, 2013). We hypothesize that the ‘low threshold’ service provision model for MMT in our setting may contribute to the lower MMT discontinuation rates observed in our study.
