Treatment outcome unaffected by initiation of full weekend closure of methadone maintenance treatment clinic.

After changing the weekend closure of our methadone maintenance clinic from 1 to 2 days, we compared patients' retention in treatment, discount payment privileges, take-home doses, and rate of drugs in urine tests during the 6 months before and after the change. No differences were found in the 6-month retention rate (94.6% and 95.4%, respectively), take-home dose privileges (60.9% and 58%, respectively), or the rate of urines positive to all substance abuse. Expanding closure of the clinic for a 2-day weekend had no adverse effect on treatment parameters, suggesting that a methadone maintenance clinic may keep the same hours as other hospital's outpatient clinics.