{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,31]],"date-time":"2026-03-31T02:44:41Z","timestamp":1774925081899,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,20]],"date-time":"2022-03-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1647734400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100007632","name":"Changhua Christian Hospital","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["108-CCH-IRP-005"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["108-CCH-IRP-005"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100007632","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100007300","name":"China Medical University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["CMU109-N-16"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CMU109-N-16"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100007300","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) is a well-established and effective treatment for heroin use disorders. Whether frontal lobe function and demoralization serve as suitable prognostic and outcome assessment factors remains unknown. A quasi-experimental study was conducted with a single-group repeated-measures design at a medical center and mental hospital in Taiwan. We enrolled 70 participants (39 completed treatments and 31 dropped out). Frontal lobe function, demoralization, depression, and craving at three time points were analyzed. There were differences between patients who completed the treatment (n = 39) and those who did not (n = 31). Thirty-nine patients completed the treatment (average age, 45.5 years; 89.7% men; average duration of heroin use, 27.21 years; MMT, 38.18 mg\/day). Post-MMT (6 months), frontal lobe function, demoralization, depression, and craving significantly improved. Dropouts had higher frontal lobe function, lower demoralization, higher craving, younger age, and earlier onset age than patients who completed the pretest treatment. Clinicians should be aware of the severity of demoralization. Clinicians may select suitable patients for MMT by assessing frontal lobe function, demoralization, craving, age, and onset age. A 6-month course of MMT improved demoralization, frontal lobe function, depression, and addiction. Six months of treatment was more effective than 3 months. Suitable patient identification and continuous treatment are important in MMT.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph19063703","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,20]],"date-time":"2022-03-20T21:30:14Z","timestamp":1647811814000},"page":"3703","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Frontal Lobe Functions, Demoralization, Depression and Craving as Prognostic Factors and Positive Outcomes of Patients with Heroin Use Disorder Receiving 6 Months of Methadone Maintenance Treatment"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9156-7413","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ting-Gang","family":"Chang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 407219, Taiwan"},{"name":"School of Psychology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 402306, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5802-9434","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ting-Ting","family":"Yen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 407219, Taiwan"},{"name":"School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming Chiao-Tung University, Taipei 112304, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0008-8642","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wen-Yu","family":"Hsu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua 500209, Taiwan"},{"name":"School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 402306, Taiwan"},{"name":"Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science, China Medical University, Taichung 406040, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shan-Mei","family":"Chang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, China Medical University, Taichung 406040, Taiwan"},{"name":"Nursing Department, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 404332, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"613","DOI":"10.1007\/s11136-011-9963-y","article-title":"Changes in drug use are associated with health-related quality of life improvements among methadone maintenance patients with HIV\/AIDS","volume":"21","author":"Tran","year":"2012","journal-title":"Qual Life Res"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"239","DOI":"10.1080\/10826084.2017.1385630","article-title":"Evaluation of Methadone Treatment in Malaysia: Findings from the Malaysian Methadone Treatment Outcome Study (MyTOS)","volume":"53","author":"Ali","year":"2018","journal-title":"Subst. 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