ArticleJournal of substance abuse treatment2022
"In their mind, they always felt less than": The role of peers in shifting stigma as a barrier to opioid use disorder treatment retention.
Article in Journal of substance abuse treatment, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
44 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 68 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interventions to reduce self-stigma in people who use drugs: A systematic review.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2024Pooled it
- Personally-tailored opioid-overdose and medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) education (TOME) significantly increases MOUD and overdose knowledge in peripartum individuals: Results from a randomized controlled pilot trial.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Trial
- Patient Perspectives on Offers of Buprenorphine in the Emergency Department.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- "In My Community, if You're an Addict, People Don't Just Look Down on You for the Drugs, but for Being Black, Too": Black and Latine Methadone Patients' Experiences Around Addiction, Methadone Treatment, and Intersectional Stigma.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Telehealth and Intervention Stigma: Patient Perspectives About Flexible Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Delivery.Substance use & addiction journal · 2026Article
- Substance use stigma mechanisms associated with greater depressive symptoms, substance use-related problems, and lower behavioral activation.Addictive behaviors reports · 2026Article
- Development and Testing of a Peer Recovery Support Services Intervention for Retention on Medications for Opioid Use Disorder.Journal of addiction medicine · 2026Article
- "Let's Talk Stigma": A Pharmacy-Based Program for Opioid Use Disorder Anti-Stigma Education in Pennsylvania.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Implementation facilitation improves readiness for emergency department-initiated buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2025Article
- Healthcare utilization and perceived substance use-related stigma from healthcare workers among incarcerated women with opioid use disorder.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Substance use, stigma, and coping in treatment: A qualitative study of participant perspectives.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2025Article
- Development and Piloting of a Scalable Training for Peer Recovery Specialists in an Evidence-Based Substance Use Intervention: Preliminary Implementation Outcomes.Administration and policy in mental health · 2025Article
- Words matter: Stigmatizing language in medical records of individuals electing medication for opioid use disorder.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Investigating heterogeneous effects of an expanded methadone access policy with opioid treatment program retention: a Rhode Island population-based retrospective cohort study.American journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- "Stigma is our most powerful enemy": Understanding opioid use disorder stigma and the role of peer support in rural Maryland.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- The role of micro-, meso-, and macro-level stigma on the uptake of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) among women in the criminal legal system.BMC women's health · 2025Article
- The benefits and potential biases of lived experience in substance use treatment services.Journal of social work practice in the addictions · 2025Article
- Racial and Ethnic Factors and Opioid Use Disorder Treatment After an Emergency Department Visit.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Social Network Barriers to Extended-Release Naltrexone Within Rural Appalachia: Perspectives from Justice-Involved Clients and Clinicians.Substance use & misuse · 2025Article
- Systematizing peer recovery support services for substance use disorder: a taxonomy for measuring recovery milestones.Frontiers in public health · 2025Review
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 at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionA substantial, national need exists for culturally acceptable, accessible opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment. Medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) is regarded as effective in treating OUD; however, retention in MOUD programs remains low nationally. One known barrier to MOUD retention is stigma, particularly within ethno-racial minority communities. Peer recovery specialists (PRSs), individuals with shared experience in substance use and recovery, may be particularly well suited to support patients in MOUD treatment, and may have capacity to play a key role in decreasing stigma-related barriers to MOUD retention.
methodsThis study used qualitative methods to solicit feedback on how patients receiving methadone treatment (MT) experience stigma (i.e., toward substance use [SU] and MT). Study staff also gathered information regarding how a PRS role may reduce stigma and improve retention in care, including barriers and facilitators to the PRS role shifting stigma. Study staff conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews and focus groups (N = 32) with staff and patients receiving MT at an opioid treatment program as well as PRSs in Baltimore.
resultsParticipants identified experiences of internalized, as well as enacted and anticipated, MT and SU stigma, and described these as barriers to treatment. Participants also identified opportunities for PRSs to shift stigma-related barriers for patients receiving MT through unique aspects of the PRS role, such as their shared lived experience.
conclusionsReducing stigma surrounding SUD and MT is critical for improving MOUD outcomes, and future research may consider how the PRS role can support this effort.
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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.