The aim of this study was to establish the optimal cut-off points of the Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS), to screen for and diagnose Internet addiction among adolescents in the community by using the well-established diagnostic criteria of Internet addiction. This survey of 454 adolescents used screening (57/58) and diagnostic (63/64) cut-off points of the CIAS, a self-reported instrument, based on the results of systematic diagnostic interviews by psychiatrists. The area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic curve revealed that CIAS has good diagnostic accuracy (89.6%). The screening cut-off point had high sensitivity (85.6%) and the diagnostic cut-off point had the highest diagnostic accuracy, classifying 87.6% of participants correctly. Accordingly, the screening point of the CIAS could provide a screening function in two-stage diagnosis, and the diagnostic point could serve as a diagnostic criterion in one-stage massive epidemiologic research.

Efforts are needed to amend the modifiable factors related to poor QOL for heroin users in MMT programs.

This study examined the methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) retention rates of heroin users in Taiwan and the predictors for dropout in the 18-month period after starting MMT. We consecutively recruited 368 intravenous heroin users receiving MMT in 2007-2008 and applied Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to determine the predictive effect of pre- and in-treatment variables on early discontinuation of MMT. The retention rate at 18 months was 32.3%. High heroin expenses, more severe harm caused by heroin use, perceived lower family support, and lower methadone dosage at 3 months after starting MMT increased the risk of dropout in the follow-up period.

Patients who were treated with clozapine for the first time have an increased rate of developing a fever, and IL-6 might have a specific role in the interaction effect between treatment duration and fever development.