ArticlePain research & management
Denial of pain medication by health care providers predicts in-hospital illicit drug use among individuals who use illicit drugs.
Article in Pain research & management. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Access to health and harm reduction services during drug decriminalization in British Columbia, Canada: a mixed-method study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Substance use frequency and associations with chronic pain among a cohort of people who inject drugs in Montreal, Canada.Canadian journal of pain = Revue canadienne de la douleur · 2026Article
- Recommendations for Addressing In-Hospital Substance Use From a National Delphi Consensus Process.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Hospital Security Searches Among Patients With Substance-Related Encounters.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Physician Interactions Associated With Increased Reception of Substance Use Disorder Treatment.Cureus · 2025Article
- Psychosocial Outcomes of Pain and Pain Management in Adults with Osteogenesis Imperfecta: A Qualitative Study.Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings · 2024Article
- Perspectives of healthcare workers on the integration of overdose detection technologies in acute care settings.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2024Article
- "As safe as possible": a qualitative study of opioid withdrawal and risk behavior among people who use illegal opioids.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- The Pain Management of Trauma Patients in the Emergency Department.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Article
- Harm reduction in the hospital: An overdose prevention site (OPS) at a Canadian hospital.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2022Article
- Elective surgery for acute pain in patients with substance use disorder: lessons learned at a rural neurosurgical center. Patient series.Journal of neurosurgery. Case lessons · 2022Article
- Perceptions of prevalence, consequences, and strategies for managing contraband substance use in an inpatient concurrent disorders program: A qualitative study of patient perspectives and survey of clinician perspectives.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Experiences with an addiction consultation service on care provided to hospitalized patients with opioid use disorder: a qualitative study of hospitalists, nurses, pharmacists, and social workers.Substance abuse · 2022Article
- Experiences Using a Multidisciplinary Model for Treating Injection Drug Use Associated Infections: A Qualitative Study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Non-medical prescription opioid use and in-hospital illicit drug use among people who use drugs.Drug and alcohol review · 2021Article
- Strategies used by people who inject drugs to avoid stigma in healthcare settings.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2019Article
- "Maybe if I stop the drugs, then maybe they'd care?"-hospital care experiences of people who use drugs.Harm reduction journal · 2019Article
- Pain as a risk factor for substance use: a qualitative study of people who use drugs in British Columbia, Canada.Harm reduction journal · 2018Article
- Willingness to use an in-hospital supervised inhalation room among people who smoke crack cocaine in Vancouver, Canada.Drug and alcohol review · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUndertreated pain is common among people who use illicit drugs (PWUD), and can often reflect the reluctance of health care providers to provide pain medication to individuals with substance use disorders.
objectiveTo investigate the relationship between having ever been denied pain medication by a health care provider and having ever reported using illicit drugs in hospital.
methodsData were derived from participants enrolled in two Canadian prospective cohort studies between December 2012 and May 2013. Using bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses, the relationship between having ever been denied pain medication by a health care provider and having ever reported using illicit drugs in hospital was examined.
resultsAmong 1053 PWUD who had experienced ≥ 1 hospitalization, 452 (44%) reported having ever used illicit drugs while in hospital and 491(48%) reported having ever been denied pain medication. In a multivariable model adjusted for confounders, having been denied pain medication was positively associated with having used illicit drugs in hospital (adjusted OR 1.46 [95% CI 1.14 to 1.88]).
conclusionsThe results of the present study suggest that the denial of pain medication is associated with the use of illicit drugs while hospitalized. These findings raise questions about how to appropriately manage addiction and pain among PWUD and indicate the potential role that harm reduction programs may play in hospital settings.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.