Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39722353›Full record

ArticleJournal of substance use and addiction treatment2025

"I still can feel the sickness": Withdrawal experiences of people on methadone maintenance treatment.

David Frank, Alex S Bennett, Charles M Cleland, Beth E Meyerson, Danielle M Russell, Suzan M Walters, Caty Simon, Joy D Scheidell, Luther Elliott

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of substance use and addiction treatment, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

David FrankDepartment of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research, School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Harm Reduction Research Lab, Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85711, USA. Electronic address: dfrank40@gmail.com.
Alex S BennettDepartment of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research, School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Center for Anti-racism, Social Justice, and Public Health, School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
Charles M ClelandCenter for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research, School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Department of Population Health, Grossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
Beth E MeyersonDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85711, USA; Harm Reduction Research Lab, Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85711, USA.
Danielle M RussellDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85711, USA; Harm Reduction Research Lab, Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85711, USA; The Kirby Institute, UNSW, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia.
Suzan M WaltersCenter for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research, School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Department of Epidemiology, School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
Caty SimonNC Survivors Union, 1116 Grove St, Greensboro, NC 27403, USA; Whose Corner is it Anyway, 1187 Northampton St., Holyoke, MA, 01040, USA.
Joy D ScheidellCenter for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research, School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Department of Health Sciences, College of Health Professions and Sciences, University of Central Florida, USA.
Luther ElliottDepartment of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research, School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.

Funding

Transdisciplinary Theoretical Svnthesis and Development CoreP30DA011041 · NIDA · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY · PI Holly Hagan · 1998 to 2026
$38.9M
Overdose Risk Management and Compensation in the Era of NaloxoneR01DA046653 · NIDA · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY · PI BENNETT, ALEXANDER S, ELLIOTT, LUTHER · 2018 to 2022
$4.4M
The Lifespan/Brown Criminal Justice Research Program on Substance Use and HIVR25DA037190 · NIDA · MIRIAM HOSPITAL · PI CURT G BECKWITH · 2014 to 2026
$3.5M
Evaluation of a community-based education, navigation, and support (CENS) intervention to reduce opioid-related harms among military veteransR01DA052426 · NIDA · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY · PI BENNETT, ALEXANDER S, ELLIOTT, LUTHER · 2021 to 2025
$3.4M
Intersectional Stigma Experiences, Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), and Other Service Use Among People Who Inject DrugsK01DA053159 · NIDA · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · PI WALTERS, SUZAN M · 2021 to 2025
$927k
NIDA NIH HHS K01 DA053159NIDA NIH HHS P30 DA011041NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA046653NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA052426NIDA NIH HHS R25 DA037190
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionOpioid withdrawal is a regular occurrence for many people who use illicit opioids (PWUIO) involving acute physical and psychological pain. Yet, there is very little data on the withdrawal experience of people in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) and almost none from the patients' experience. Learning more about patients' withdrawal experiences can help to inform policies and practices that are better suited to address withdrawal and may improve patient satisfaction as well as uptake and retention.

methodsThis article is based on 29 semi-structured interviews with people who use illicit opioids who reported recent withdrawal experience. The study conducted interviews remotely via Zoom between April and August 2022 and later transcribed them professionally. The study team then coded data thematically using Atlas.ti, based on a combination of inductive and deductive coding strategies and informed by the literature and study aims.

resultsParticipants described withdrawal as a significant issue that negatively impacts their treatment experience and increases the likelihood of treatment cessation. Their accounts of withdrawal were complex and often involved multiple factors; however, feeling underdosed and missing clinic dosing hours were seen as important vectors that led to their withdrawal experiences. Importantly, participants framed feeling underdosed and missing clinic dosing hours as institutional problems, resulting primarily from clinic policies, practices, and culture rather than from patients' decisions or individual behavior. Specifically, they cited restricted access to take-home doses, limited hours of operation, and a punitive focus on complete abstinence as factors that made withdrawal difficult to avoid.

conclusionsPatients' accounts demonstrate a disconnect between providers' focus on promoting complete abstinence and patients, who were often using MMT for more pragmatic reasons that did not include complete abstinence from all drugs. These findings support growing calls for the integration of MMT into the mainstream healthcare system by making it available via prescription from office-based medical settings and dispensed through pharmacies.

Indexed as

Analgesics, OpioidMethadoneOpiate Substitution TreatmentOpioid-Related DisordersSubstance Withdrawal SyndromeAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedQualitative ResearchAnalgesics, OpioidMethadoneFentanylMethadone maintenance treatmentOpioid treatment programsTake-home dosesUnderdosingWithdrawal

Identifiers

PMID39722353
PMCPMC11885047

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.