ArticleEuropean journal of pain (London, England)2025
Chronic pain among primary fentanyl users: The concept of self-medication.
Article in European journal of pain (London, England), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Trends and hotspots in cupping therapy research for pain: a bibliometric study.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- The efficacy and safety of short-acting, full agonist opioids for symptom management of opioid withdrawal.Addictive behaviors reports · 2026Review
- Pain Medicine and the Opioid Crisis: Time to Own Our Responsibility!European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Article
- Chronic pain among primary fentanyl users: The concept of self-medication.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Article
- Pain Management Strategies for Patients Receiving Extended-Release Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder: A Scoping Review.Substance use : research and treatmentReview
- Identifying Factors Associated With Intentional and Unintentional Fentanyl Use Among People Who Use Drugs in New York City.Journal of addiction medicineArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChronic pain is among the leading causes of disability worldwide, of which only a small percentage of patients receive adequate treatment for. Non-prescribed opioid analgesics are commonly sought out in effort to alleviate unrelieved pain. This study assesses the prevalence and correlates of chronic pain among primary fentanyl users.
methodsA cross-sectional and structured survey was conducted with 200 adults who reported fentanyl as their drug of choice from a Vancouver acute care hospital. Presence and levels of chronic pain were determined through self-report.
resultsThe majority of participants (n = 130, 72.6%) reported having chronic pain in the past 6 months, with the mean level of pain on a typical day to be 7.6 out of a scale of 10 (SD = 1.9). Majority (n = 85, 65.4%) reported using street opioids to self-medicate, while only 9 (6.9%) reported that their chronic pain was unrelated. Regression analysis indicated that increasing age and co-use of cannabis and opioids were independent associated factors of chronic pain. Higher levels of reported pain on a typical day were further associated with age and self-medication.
conclusionsThe findings of this study demonstrate a significant association between self-medication and chronic pain among primary fentanyl users in British Columbia. For these individuals, inadequate pain relief may drive continued opioid use, which in turn may increase risks of treatment discontinuation and overdose. Appropriate pain management strategies are crucial to avoid opioid misuse and decrease the large societal burden caused by chronic pain. SIGNIFICANCE: Our work points to the high prevalence of self-reported chronic pain among individuals who primarily use fentanyl. Among those with self-reported fentanyl use and chronic pain, self-medication with street opioids was found to be common and associated with higher reported pain levels on a typical day. This highlights the need for pain management strategies to be integrated into opioid dependence treatment and more research in the overlap of pain and fentanyl use.
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