Allyn Benintendi1, Sarah Kosakowski1, Pooja Lagisetty2, Marc Larochelle1, Amy S B Bohnert3, Angela R Bazzi4. 1. Clinical Addiction Research and Evaluation Unit, Section of General Internal Medicine, Boston Medical Center, 801 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA, 02118, USA. 2. Michigan Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, 1500 E. Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA; VA Center for Clinical Management Research, 2215 Fuller Road, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA. 3. VA Center for Clinical Management Research, 2215 Fuller Road, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA; Michigan Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, 1500 E. Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA. 4. Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, 801 Massachusetts Avenue, rm 442e, Boston, MA, 02118, USA; Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA. Electronic address: abazzi@health.ucsd.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Efforts to address opioid-involved overdose fatalities have led to widespread implementation of various initiatives to taper (i.e., reduce or discontinue) opioid prescriptions despite a limited understanding of patients' experience. METHODS: From 2019-2020, we recruited patients with chronic, non-cancer pain who had undergone a reduction in opioid daily dosage of ≥50 % in the past two years at Boston Medical Center or Michigan Medicine. Participants completed semi-structured interviews exploring health history, opioid use, and taper experiences. Inductive analysis, guided by theoretical conceptualizations of structural stigma, identified emergent themes. RESULTS: Among 41 participants, three elements of structural stigma were identified across participants' lives. First, participants identified themselves as overlooked subjects of the U.S. opioid crisis, who experienced overprescribing, subsequent stigmatization and surveillance of opioid use (e.g., toxicology screening, "pill counts"), and various tapering initiatives. Second, during the course of pain treatment, participants felt stigmatized and invalidated by cultural norms linking chronic pain to stereotypes of acting disingenuously (e.g., "drug-seeking"). Finally, during and after tapers, institutional policies and programs further increased participants' feelings of marginalization, producing multiple unintended consequences, including reduced access to medical care and feeling "orphaned by the system." CONCLUSIONS: Opioid tapers may exacerbate the social production and burden of stigma among patients with chronic pain, especially when processes are perceived to invalidate pain, endorse stereotypes, and label previously effective, acceptable treatment as inappropriate. Findings highlight how various tapering initiatives reinforce the devalued status of people living with chronic pain while also reducing patients' wellbeing and confidence in medical systems.
BACKGROUND: Efforts to address opioid-involved overdose fatalities have led to widespread implementation of various initiatives to taper (i.e., reduce or discontinue) opioid prescriptions despite a limited understanding of patients' experience. METHODS: From 2019-2020, we recruited patients with chronic, non-cancer pain who had undergone a reduction in opioid daily dosage of ≥50 % in the past two years at Boston Medical Center or Michigan Medicine. Participants completed semi-structured interviews exploring health history, opioid use, and taper experiences. Inductive analysis, guided by theoretical conceptualizations of structural stigma, identified emergent themes. RESULTS: Among 41 participants, three elements of structural stigma were identified across participants' lives. First, participants identified themselves as overlooked subjects of the U.S. opioid crisis, who experienced overprescribing, subsequent stigmatization and surveillance of opioid use (e.g., toxicology screening, "pill counts"), and various tapering initiatives. Second, during the course of pain treatment, participants felt stigmatized and invalidated by cultural norms linking chronic pain to stereotypes of acting disingenuously (e.g., "drug-seeking"). Finally, during and after tapers, institutional policies and programs further increased participants' feelings of marginalization, producing multiple unintended consequences, including reduced access to medical care and feeling "orphaned by the system." CONCLUSIONS: Opioid tapers may exacerbate the social production and burden of stigma among patients with chronic pain, especially when processes are perceived to invalidate pain, endorse stereotypes, and label previously effective, acceptable treatment as inappropriate. Findings highlight how various tapering initiatives reinforce the devalued status of people living with chronic pain while also reducing patients' wellbeing and confidence in medical systems.
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