Place of methadone in practice of tunisian psychiatrists

Introduction Substance abuse is a widespread phenomenon in Tunisia. However, although the principles of prevention and addiction treatment are accepted in Tunisia, the laws of our country remains sketchy and marked by the traditional punitive approach to drug users. Aims Assess knowledge of methadone, opioid substitution therapy, among Tunisian psychiatrists. Methods This is a descriptive cross-sectional study that included psychiatrists in the public sector, liberal sector or in training courses. These doctors completed a self-administered questionnaire posted on the website of the Tunisian Society of Psychiatry and the Association of Tunisian residents and young psychiatrists. The survey includes 18 items. The questions were grouped under three main headings: – sociodemographic data; – general knowledge of methadone; – methadone and its place in their daily practice. Results The participation rate was 15% ( n =35). The average participant age was 32.13 years. Psychiatry residents were the most represented grade 94%. Twenty-eight percent of participants had training in addiction ( n =10) Eighty-five percent have heard about methadone. Conclusion Given the importance of the scourge of drug abuse including opioids, political circles have expressed the desire to improve the Tunisian legislation on substitution treatment. Nevertheless, others projects more directly related to "Arab Spring" are government priorities.