ArticleEthiopian journal of health sciences2026
Non-Medical Opioid Use in Ethiopia: An Exploratory Descriptive Study.
Article in Ethiopian journal of health sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Non-medical opioid use is linked to severe consequences such as addiction, overdose, and infectious diseases, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV), particularly through injection practices. In Ethiopia, limited evidence exists on non-medical opioid use, and harm-reduction programs are absent. This study aimed to explore the experiences of non-medical opioid users seeking healthcare in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: A phenomenological qualitative study design was employed, complemented by descriptive quantitative data. We conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with sixteen purposively selected participants and reviewed hospital data (n = 47). Thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data, while descriptive statistics summarized the quantitative findings. Results: Five themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: patterns of opioid use, reasons for use, strategies for accessing opioids, perceived consequences, and help-seeking behaviours. Quantitative data showed that 47 opioid users received healthcare services over the past three years in hospitals in Addis Ababa. Forty-three percent of these individuals were healthcare professionals. Sixty-six percent used one type of opioid, predominantly tramadol (18), while 24 of the 47 reported polysubstance use. Daily opioid use was common, reported by 76.6% of participants. Conclusions: Non-medical opioid use poses significant life-threatening risks and multidimensional challenges, necessitating immediate intervention. Further large-scale studies on the burden of opioid use, as well as intervention research aimed at improving care and developing harm-reduction guidelines, are essential.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.