ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2021
"How will I get my next week's script?" Reactions of Reddit opioid forum users to changes in treatment access in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.
Article in The International journal on drug policy, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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
37 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The impact of relaxing restrictions on take-home doses during the COVID-19 pandemic on program effectiveness and client experiences in opioid agonist treatment: a mixed methods systematic review.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2023Pooled it
- Qualitative content analysis of public responses to an FDA inquiry on the impact of scheduling changes to kratom.The International journal on drug policy · 2022Pooled it
- Identifying Demographic Predictors of Increased Nonfatal Opioid Overdose Risk Among New York State Medicaid Enrollees After the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analysis of Heterogeneous Treatment Effects.Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026Article
- "It's so much easier for them to just come to us": a qualitative study examining the implementation of mobile methadone treatment serving a residential SUD treatment program.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2026Article
- Narrative Review of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Impact on American Indian/Alaska Native Communities.Nursing open · 2026Review
- Information Needs for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Using Buprenorphine Product: Qualitative Analysis of Suboxone-Focused Reddit Data.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Which social media platforms facilitate monitoring the opioid crisis?PLOS digital health · 2025Article
- Stigma and Behavior Change Techniques in Substance Use Recovery: Qualitative Study of Social Media Narratives.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Self-reported experiences and perspectives on using psychedelics to manage opioid use among participants of two Reddit communities.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Large-scale longitudinal analysis of the progression of alcohol use among members of a social media platform: an observational study.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2024Article
- The Use of Natural Language Processing Methods in Reddit to Investigate Opioid Use: Scoping Review.JMIR infodemiology · 2024Article
- First-hand accounts of structural stigma toward people who use opioids on Reddit.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2024Article
- Trends in Fentanyl Content on Reddit Substance Use Forums, 2013-2021.Journal of general internal medicine · 2023Article
- Investigating Substance Use via Reddit: Systematic Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Using Reddit as a recruitment strategy for addiction science research.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2023Article
- Patient experiences of methadone treatment changes during the first wave of COVID-19: a national community-driven survey.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- Synthesising evidence of the effects of COVID-19 regulatory changes on methadone treatment for opioid use disorder: implications for policy.The Lancet. Public health · 2023Review
- Comparing the Discussion of Telehealth in Two Social Media Platforms: Social Listening Analysis.Telemedicine reports · 2023Article
- "COVID-19 spreads round the planet, and so do paranoid thoughts". A qualitative investigation into personal experiences of psychosis during the COVID-19 pandemic.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2023Article
- "It was horrible for that community, but not for the way we had imagined": A qualitative study of family physicians' experiences of caring for communities experiencing marginalisation during COVID-19.SSM. Qualitative research in health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic poses significant challenges to people with opioid use disorder (OUD). As localities enforce lockdowns and pass emergency OUD treatment regulations, questions arise about how these changes will affect access and retention in care. In this study, we explore the influence of COVID-19 on access to, experiences with, and motivations for OUD treatment through a qualitative analysis of public discussion forums on Reddit.
methodsWe collected data from Reddit, a free and international online platform dedicated to public discussions and user-generated content. We extracted 1000 of the most recent posts uploaded between March 5th and May 13th, 2020 from each of the two most popular opioid subreddits "r/Opiates" and "r/OpiatesRecovery" (total 2000). We reviewed posts for relevance to COVID-19 and opioid use and coded content using a hybrid inductive-deductive approach. Thematic analysis identified common themes related to study questions of interest.
resultsOf 2000 posts reviewed, 300 (15%) discussed topics related to the intersection of opioid use and COVID-19. Five major themes related to OUD treatment were identified: Concern about closure of OUD treatment services; transition to telehealth and virtual care; methadone treatment requirements and increased exposure to COVID-19; reactions to changing regulations on medications for OUD; and influences of the pandemic on treatment motivation and progress.
conclusionIn the face of unprecedented challenges due to COVID-19, reactions of Reddit opioid forum users ranged from increased distress in accessing and sustaining treatment, to encouragement surrounding new modes of treatment and opportunities to engage in care. New and less restrictive avenues for treatment were welcomed by many, but questions remain about how new norms and policy changes will be sustained beyond this pandemic and impact OUD treatment access and outcomes long-term.
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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.