ArticleBritish journal of pain2021
Hopes and fears before opioid tapering: a quantitative and qualitative study of patients with chronic pain and long-term opioids.
Article in British journal of pain, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interventions to safely and effectively reduce (taper) use of opioids in chronic non-cancer pain: a systematic review.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Trial
- Understanding quality of life in chronic non-cancer pain: untangling the associations between medication use, psychosocial functioning, and stigma.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Patients With Chronic Pain and Their Perspectives on Barriers and Opportunities for Earlier Opioid Tapering-A Qualitative Study Using Patient Journey Mapping.Musculoskeletal care · 2026Article
- Prescription opioid discontinuation and mortality due to suicide or unintentional overdose.Pain · 2026Article
- Realities of opioid and gabapentinoid deprescribing in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities: a qualitative evaluation.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Pharmacological Strategies to Decrease Long-Term Prescription Opioid Use: A Systematic Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Designing a primary care pharmacist-led review for people treated with opioids for persistent pain: a multi-method qualitative study.BJGP open · 2024Article
- Unveiling the link between chronic pain and misuse of opioids and cannabis.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2024Review
- A digital health intervention to support patients with chronic pain during prescription opioid tapering: a pilot randomised controlled trial.Pain reports · 2024Article
- Patient Experiences and Clinical Outcomes in a Multidisciplinary Perioperative Transitional Pain Service.Journal of personalized medicine · 2023Article
- Patients' perspectives on tapering programmes for prescription opioid use disorder: a qualitative study.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Oxycodone withdrawal induces HDAC1/HDAC2-dependent transcriptional maladaptations in the reward pathway in a mouse model of peripheral nerve injury.Nature neuroscience · 2023Article
- A Digital Video and Text Messaging Intervention to Support People With Chronic Pain During Opioid Tapering: Content Development Using Co-design.JMIR formative research · 2022Article
- Complex Persistent Opioid Dependence-an Opioid-induced Chronic Pain Syndrome.Current treatment options in oncology · 2022Review
- New Alcohol-related Condition Diagnoses Are Associated With Opioid Tapers Among Patients Receiving Long-term Opioid Therapy.Journal of addiction medicineArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIt is clear that the risks of opioids in chronic pain outweigh the benefits, creating a drive for clinicians to support patients taper and stop long-term opioids. However, it is not known how patients who have been taking these medicines for months or years feel about reducing them. Using quantitative and qualitative data, this study describes the psychological complexity of these patients and examines their hopes and fears before opioid reduction.
methodsSixty patients attending the opioid clinic completed psychological and pain questionnaires, providing quantitative data, just before they commenced opioid tapering. They scored the severity of opioid side effects and completed a free text framework to express their beliefs about stopping or continuing opioids. A phenomenological approach was used to identify common qualitative themes.
resultsMost patients were taking opioid doses above the UK recommended maximum dose and reported severe pain with high pain interference. Over 80% of patients described significant depression and 60% significant anxiety. Negative themes around stopping opioids were more common than positive ones, with 63% patients fearing increased pain. A quarter of patients referred to addiction and 16% feared withdrawal. Five patients hoped for a better quality of life; seven feared a worse one. Opioid side effects were common and severe.
conclusionPatients with chronic pain taking long-term opioids demonstrate high psychological distress and low self-efficacy. Their concerns around opioid tapering relate to pain, quality of life and withdrawal. Identifying and addressing patients' individual concerns should increase the likelihood of successful opioid tapering.
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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.