ArticleMusculoskeletal care2026
Patients With Chronic Pain and Their Perspectives on Barriers and Opportunities for Earlier Opioid Tapering-A Qualitative Study Using Patient Journey Mapping.
Article in Musculoskeletal care, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeLong-term opioid use is associated at the population level with increased risks such as physical dependence, adverse effects and complex healthcare trajectories. While some patients report improved function and quality of life with carefully monitored opioid therapy, others experience diminishing benefits over time and substantial harms. While tapering is clinically recommended, little is known about patients' perspectives on barriers and opportunities for initiating earlier opioid tapering. This study explores how patients experience and reflect on these issues throughout their patient journey.
methodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 patients who had completed opioid tapering at a Danish multidisciplinary pain clinic. Patient journey mapping was used to visualise and structure individual treatment journeys. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis and supported by NVivo software.
resultsTwo overarching themes emerged: (1) living between fear of pain and dependence on opioids included emotional ambivalence, fear of pain recurrence, and insufficient guidance from healthcare providers; (2) Tapering responsibility falling through the cracks, illustrated how tapering responsibility often became fragmented across the healthcare system, leaving participants feeling unsupported and uncertain about how to initiate change. Conversely, proactive engagement by healthcare professionals, particularly general practitioners, enabled participants to consider tapering.
conclusionThis study identified personal and systemic barriers to opioid tapering, including fear of pain, emotional dependence, and fragmented care. Participants favoured earlier tapering, but success depended on addressing these factors and enhancing general practitioners' knowledge. Meaningful tapering becomes possible when healthcare professional responsiveness meets individual readiness.
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.