Mortality in opioid-maintained patients after release from an addiction clinic.

Aim: To investigate the mortality rate in a cohort of 269 opioid-dependent patients and the outcome of survivors meeting DSM-IV criteria for opioid dependence.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Participants: Patients enrolled in synthetic opioid maintenance therapy during a time frame from 1998 to 1999 originally at the Addiction Clinic and then discharged to general practitioners.