A Trend Study on Media Representation and Economic Circulation of Drug Addiction Treatment Market in Iran: Development of Opioid Maintenance Services and Emergence of Treatment Menu for Amphetamines

  Drug addiction treatment (DAT) is a dynamic market influenced by customers’ requests and regulating policies. With about 6000 active clinics nationwide, there is insufficient data regarding the trend of DAT market in Iran. However, these treatment centers advertise their services in daily newspapers providing an indirect manner for their market analysis. The current study was the second phase of the authors’ longitudinal study on evaluating DAT network in Tehran. The current study was designed to provide an outline of treatment services, along with communicative and economic aspects of these centers through tracking their advertisements in newspapers. A trend study was conducted in two time points, May 2009 and November 2012, and reviewed all relevant advertisements in the daily newspapers in a one-month period, in Tehran. After content analysis of the advertisements, the data collection was finalized with telephone-structured interviews. In 2009, sixty-six clinics advertised for their services, using 383 codes to introduce their centers (43%) and treatment menus (57%). Three years later, in 2012, ninety-nine clinics advertised their services a 33% increase. They used 923 codes (140% growth) to introduce their centers (64%) and advertise treatment menus (36%). Regarding their treatment menus, there was a wide range of treatment choices, including common and broad categories of care center (i.e., outpatient and inpatient), and treatment modalities (detoxification to maintenance with methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone). Based on the results, methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) remains as the most popular treatment in Tehran offered by 85% of the centers. On average, it costs 1,185,270 Rials (US$37.03) per month, a 16% increase in three years. In 2009, there was no code regarding methamphetamine in the ads, but in 2012, about 43% of centers included the related code in their ads, reflecting the market response to rapidly growing methamphetamine addiction in Iran. Longitudinal trend analysis of DAT market using newspaper advertisements, as an indirect, but rapid and feasible method, provides a dynamic picture of drug treatment network. It showed that opioid maintenance therapy still continues its services in the market, and treatment services likewise grow in response to methamphetamine crisis in Iran.