ArticleInternational journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being2016
Stuck in limbo: illicit drug users' experiences with opioid maintenance treatment and the relation to recovery.
Article in International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Patients' experiences of continued treatment with extended-release naltrexone: a Norwegian qualitative study.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2022Trial
- Optimal provision of opiate substitution therapy and needle and syringe programmes: a multi-method realist evaluation.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025Article
- Quality of life whilst ageing in opioid agonist treatment: a narrative analysis.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Employing Bayesian analysis to establish a cut-off point and assess stigma prevalence in substance use disorder: a comprehensive study of the Chinese version of the Substance Use Stigma Mechanism Scale.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2024Article
- Should I Stay or Should I Go? A Qualitative Exploration of Stigma and Other Factors Influencing Opioid Agonist Treatment Journeys.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Exploring the experiences of clients receiving opioid use disorder treatment at a methadone clinic in Kenya: a qualitative study.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2022Article
- When the non-sharing of therapeutic goals becomes the problem: The story of a consumer and his addiction to methadone.Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing · 2022Article
- Patients' Perspectives on Coming Off Opioid Agonist Treatment: A Qualitative Study.Substance abuse : research and treatment · 2022Article
- Struggling to achieve a 'normal life': A qualitative study of Vietnamese methadone patients.The International journal on drug policy · 2019Article
- The association between perceived stigma and substance use disorder treatment outcomes: a review.Substance abuse and rehabilitation · 2019Review
- The Lived Experience of Medication for Opioid Use Disorder: Qualitative Metasynthesis.Journal of addictions nursingArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe objective of this article is to gain insight into how individuals who frequent open illicit drug scenes experience opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) and investigate how this appears to affect their recovery processes.
methodBy means of the ethnographic method, one of the researchers spent time in an open illicit drug scene over a 1-year span, and gathered data on individuals who frequent the scene on a regular basis, and their experiences with OMT. The data are based on field notes and audiotaped interviews.
findingsFour themes emerged as relevant for the participants' experiences with OMT: 1) the loss of hope, 2) trapped in OMT, 3) substitution treatment is not enough, and 4) stigmatization of identity.
conclusionThe participants found the OMT to be overruling and degrading. Several of the individuals from the illicit drug scene are part of the OMT programme, but as the treatment does not remove painful emotions, they supplement OMT with illegal substances, violate the OMT regulations, and run the risk of being excluded from the programme. In fear of losing the replacement opioid, they conceal parts of the addiction they seek treatment for and end up lying and cheating instead of exploring strategies for reducing and managing the addiction. The patients' relation to the OMT personnel is negatively affected by the need to hide a large portion of their issues. The result is a feeling of hopelessness, increased stigmatization, lack of control and being trapped between two worlds-in limbo, an intermediate state which interferes with the recovery process.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.