You Present like a Drug Addict: Patient and Clinician Perspectives on Trust and Trustworthiness in Chronic Pain Management

Framing Chronic Pain in U.S. News Coverage of the Opioid Epidemic (2012-2022)

Chronic pain, pain persisting longer than six months, afflicts 20% of the U.S. population and is the leading cause of disability. To manage pain, many chronic pain patients (CPPs) and healthcare providers turn to opioids, prescription medications that block pain signals and offer relief. However, in light of the U.S.' ongoing opioid epidemic, CPPs without a history of opioid use disorder (OUD) are facing increased stigma when seeking opioid medication. Further, many have been forced to taper their therapeutic dose due to updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prescribing guidelines in 2016 and 2022, with a range of (adverse) outcomes. Though research has explored experiences of chronic pain and OUD independently, few studies have explored how media coverage of the opioid epidemic has shaped representations, and resulting stereotypes, of CPPs. Guided by framing theory, this content analysis examines sources' characterization of CPPs amidst a decade of U.S. news coverage of the opioid epidemic (N = 492). Findings identify four dominant news frames, including two novel frames termed culpability and strategy, and elements (i.e., characters, significant events) that comprise these frames. When discussed, CPPs were ascribed the identity of a drug-seeking addict 82% of the time. Collectively, this study provides insight as to how news media coverage of the opioid epidemic influence(d) public perceptions of chronic pain (patients). Findings offer theoretical and practical implications for media outlets, policymakers, CPPs and healthcare providers, as well as highlighting how use of opioids for pain management does not equate to abuse of opioids.

The good pain patient: a critical evaluation of patients' self-presentations in specialist pain clinics

Established research supports collaborative patient-clinician communication as a means of improving pain management and decreasing opioid use by patients with chronic pain. However, much of this scholarship emphasises clinicians' capacities to shape and improve communication; limited research investigates patients' roles in this process. Drawing on 40 ethnographic observations of patient-clinician interactions, clinical spaces and case conferences within one specialist pain clinic in Brisbane, Australia, this paper investigates how and why patients present themselves in particular ways within consultations. Our theoretical lens combines concepts from Goffman on patienthood and stigma with Foucauldian theories of pastoral and disciplinary power. Findings suggest that elements of the clinical environment - namely posters - usher patients towards presenting in what we conceptualise as the 'good pain patient' role. In this role, patients demonstrate that they are moral, responsible, and contributing members of society. Yet, such a role is problematic to opening communication, with the role constraining what is socially acceptable for patients with chronic pain to say, do, or feel. In recognising how clinical contexts facilitate problematic good pain patient presentations, this paper directs attention to the spatial and relational nature of implicit clinical expectations and constrained good pain patient presentations.

Communication and empathy within the patient-physician relationship among patients with and without chronic pain

CONTEXT

Chronic pain may affect the relationship between patients and their treating physicians.

OBJECTIVES

This study was designed to compare four aspects of physician communication and physician empathy reported by patients with chronic pain and in chronic pain-free controls.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted within a national pain research registry from July 2020 through January 2024. Patients with chronic low back pain of greater than 3 months duration were matched to chronic pain-free controls utilizing propensity scores derived from a logistic regression model based on 11 variables that included sociodemographic characteristics, cigarette smoking status, history of comorbid medical conditions, and duration of the current patient-physician relationship. Patients reported on the primary outcomes of physician communication utilizing the Communication Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) and physician empathy utilizing the Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) measure. Group means were compared for each aspect of physician communication (patient participation and patient orientation, effective and open communication, emotionally supportive communication, and communication about personal circumstances) and physician empathy, and Cohen's d statistic was utilized to assess the clinical relevance of between-group differences. Secondary exploratory analyses were also performed to compare patients treated by osteopathic physicians vs. allopathic physicians and to determine whether study group X physician type interaction effects were present.

RESULTS

The 387 patients in each study group were matched within a caliper width of 0.001 on the propensity score. Overall, patients ranged from 21 to 79 years of age (mean, 50.7 years; standard deviation [SD], 15.1 years), and 617 (79.7 %) of them were female. Patients in the chronic pain group reported poorer scores for all aspects of physician communication and physician empathy than the chronic pain-free controls. All between-group differences were clinically relevant. There were no differences in physician communication or physician empathy according to physician type in the exploratory analyses, and study group X physician type interaction effects were not observed.

CONCLUSIONS

In this cross-sectional study, patients with chronic pain reported having physicians with poorer communication and less empathy than chronic pain-free controls. Longitudinal research is needed to more clearly determine the temporal relationship between patients' chronic pain and physician communication and physician empathy during medical encounters.

Assessing how individuals conceptualize numeric pain ratings: validity and reliability of the Pain Schema Inventory (PSI-6) Short Form

Background

While numeric scales to represent pain intensity have been well validated, individuals use various conceptualizations when assigning a number to pain intensity, referred to as pain rating schema. The 18-item Pain Schema Inventory (PSI-18) quantifies pain rating schema by asking for numeric values for multiple mild, moderate or severe pain conditions. This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of a shortened form of the PSI, using only 6 items (PSI-6).

Methods

A secondary analysis was performed on two existing datasets. The first (n = 641) involved a community-based population that completed the PSI-18. The second (n = 182) included participants with chronic pain who completed the PSI-6 twice, one week apart. We assessed face validity, convergent validity, offset biases, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency of the PSI-6 compared to the PSI-18.

Results

Both the PSI-18 and PSI-6 demonstrated excellent face validity. The PSI-6 demonstrated excellent convergent validity relative to the PSI-18, with correlations from r = 0.88 to 0.92. Bland-Altman plots revealed offset biases near zero (< 0.22 on 0-10 scale) across all categories of mild, moderate, severe and average pain. Internal consistency was excellent, with Cronbach's Alpha = 0.91 and 0.80, for PSI-18 and PSI-6 respectively. Test-retest reliability of the PSI-6 was high with correlations from r = 0.70-0.76.

Conclusion

The PSI-6 is a valid and reliable tool to assess pain rating schema with reduced subject burden, to better interpret individuals' pain ratings and adjust for inter-individual variability.

Perspectives and Recommendations from Hospitalized Patients with Substance Use Disorders: A Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND

Individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) are hospitalized in growing numbers. Stigma is pervasive among their hospital providers, and SUD management during medical admissions is often inadequate. However, little is known about how these patients perceive their care quality. In particular, few studies have explored their positive care perceptions or recommendations for improvement.

OBJECTIVE

To explore perspectives on positive aspects, negative aspects, and consequences of care, as well as recommendations for improvement among hospitalized patients with SUDs.

DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS

We conducted semi-structured, in-depth bedside interviews (n = 15) with patients who have been diagnosed with a SUD and were admitted to medical or surgical floors of an urban academic medical center.

APPROACH

Interviews explored patients' hospital experiences and recommendations for improvement. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and imported into NVivo software. Two reviewers independently coded the transcripts using interpretative phenomenological analysis and inductive thematic analysis according to grounded theory, and recurring themes were identified from the data. Patients' demographic and clinical data were analyzed with descriptive statistics.

KEY RESULTS

Perceived clinical and emotional proficiency were the most important components of positive experiences, whereas perceived bias and stigmatized attitudes, clinical improficiency, and inhumane treatment were characteristic of negative experiences. Such care components were most consequential for patients' emotional well-being, trust, and care quality. Recommendations for improving care included specific suggestions for initiating and promoting continued recovery, educating, and partnering in compassionate care.

CONCLUSIONS

Hospitalized patients with SUDs often experience lower quality and less compassionate care linked to pervasive stigma and poor outcomes. Our study highlights under-recognized perspectives from this patient population, including socioemotional consequences of care and recommendations grounded in lived experiences. By striving to advance our care in accordance with patients' viewpoints, we can turn hospitalizations into opportunities for engagement and promoting recovery.

Colorectal Cancer Screening Among Individuals With a Substance Use Disorder: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Introduction

There is limited evidence on colorectal cancer screening among individuals with a substance use disorder. This study aims to investigate the association between personal history of a substance use disorder and colorectal cancer colonoscopy screening completion rates.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study analyzed 176,300 patients, of whom 171,973 had no substance use disorder and 4,327 had a substance use disorder diagnosis from electronic health record data (January 1, 2008-December 31, 2022) in a Midwestern healthcare system. Baseline was January 1, 2013, and a 10-year follow-up period ran through December 31, 2022. The outcome was receipt of colonoscopy in the 10-year follow-up period. Patients were aged 50-65 years at baseline, meaning that they were eligible for a colonoscopy through the entirety of the 10-year follow-up period. Covariates included demographics (age, race, and neighborhood SES), health services utilization, psychiatric and physical comorbidities, and prior colonoscopy or fecal occult blood testing. Entropy balancing was used to control for confounding in weighted log-binomial models calculating RR and 95% CIs.

Results

Patients were on average aged 57.1 (±4.5) years, 58.2% were female, 81.0% were White, and 16.9% were of Black race. The most prevalent comorbidities were obesity (29.6%) and hypertension (29.4%), followed by smoking/nicotine dependence (21.0%). The most prevalent psychiatric comorbidity was depression (6.4%), followed by anxiety disorder (4.5%). During the 10-year follow-up period, 40.3% of eligible patients completed a colorectal cancer colonoscopy screening test, and individuals with a substance use disorder diagnosis were significantly less likely to receive a colorectal cancer colonoscopy screening test both prior to and after controlling for confounding (RR=0.73; 95% CI=0.70, 0.77 and RR=0.81; 95% CI=0.74, 0.89, respectively). Results were not modified by sex, race, psychiatric comorbidity, or neighborhood SES.

Conclusions

Personal history of substance use disorder was independently associated with lower screening completion rates. Healthcare professionals should recognize unique barriers among individuals with substance use disorder and then address them individually as a multidisciplinary team in the outpatient setting to reduce this health disparity.

Stigmatisation in medical encounters for persistent physical symptoms/functional disorders: Scoping review and thematic synthesis

OBJECTIVE

To conduct a scoping review of stigma in medical encounters for persistent physical symptoms and functional disorders (PPS/FD). Stigma is a social attribute that links a person to an undesirable characteristic. It has been extensively studied in relation to mental illness but less so in relation to PPS/FD.

METHODS

We followed PRISMA-ScR reporting guidelines for scoping reviews. Searches for were designed using the SPIDER tool. We used descriptive and thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The searches identified 68 articles, of which 32 were eligible for inclusion. 31 out of the 32 studies used a qualitative methodology. 8 studies used an explicit definition of stigma, of which 6 used the Goffman (1963) definition. Only 2 studies directly examined clinical consultations, the remainder relied on recalled accounts by patients or professionals. Descriptive analysis identified the focus of the studies included: patient-physician interaction (n = 13); health care professionals' perceptions (n = 7); experiences of illness/stigma (n = 6); broader meaning of illness (n = 3); and patients' experiences of stigma in health care consultations (n = 3).

CONCLUSION

Patients experience stigmatisation in consultations for a wide range of PPS/FD. This suggests the presence of structural stigmatisation.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

There is a need for effective stigma reduction strategies in consultations about persistent physical symptoms.

"Keep trying": a qualitative investigation into what patients with chronic pain gain from Project ECHO

Objective

The study aims to investigate the patient perspective on the pathway from healthcare practitioners' presentations of their cases at a Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) tele-clinic to the management of those patients' chronic pain.

Introduction

Managing patients with chronic and complex pain constitutes a prevalent, stressful challenge in the primary care setting. Primary care physicians typically have received little training in treating such patients and, until recently, have relied heavily on opioid and other pharmaceutical therapies as part of their regimen. Project ECHO Ontario Chronic Pain and Opioid Stewardship is an interprofessional telementoring program connecting pain specialists to primary care practitioners with the aim of supporting them in managing their patients with chronic pain, although the patients concerned do not generally participate in the telementoring sessions. While a number of papers have described the benefits accruing to healthcare professionals through participating in Project ECHO, there has been little exploration concerning patients' perceptions of their care subsequent to case presentation.

Methods

Using data from in-depth interviews with 20 patients along with their associated case presentation forms and the recommendations following the presentation, we look at the alignment of patient and practitioner views and inquire about the patient's perceptions of how Project ECHO affects them.

Results

Results suggest that the impact on patients is indirect but positive: most respondents express pleasure in contributing to research around chronic pain management, though only two of them identified a direct impact on their own treatment. They also appreciated their practitioner's efforts to bring expert attention to the patient's situation.

Conclusions

Patients whose cases are presented to Project ECHO sessions experience positive emotions at being part of the process of research and quality improvement, regardless of changes in their own conditions. This study highlights the importance to patients of their practitioners' commitment to managing their chronic pain.

Patient and pharmacist perspectives on opioid misuse screening and brief interventions in community pharmacies

BACKGROUND

Pharmacy-based screening and brief interventions (SBI) offer opportunities to identify opioid misuse and opioid safety risks and provide brief interventions that do not overly burden pharmacists. Currently, such interventions are being developed without patient input and in-depth contextual data and insufficient translation into practice. The purpose of this study is to qualitatively explore and compare patient and pharmacist perceptions and needs regarding a pharmacy-based opioid misuse SBI and to identify relevant SBI features and future implementation strategies.

METHODS

Using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 8 patients and 11 pharmacists, to explore needs and barriers to participating in a pharmacy-based SBI. We recruited a purposive sample of English-speaking patients prescribed opioids for chronic or acute pain and pharmacists practicing in varied pharmacies (small independent, large-chain, specialty retail) settings. We used an inductive content analysis approach to analyze patient interview data. Then through a template analysis approach involving comparison of pharmacist and patient themes, we developed strategies for SBI implementation.

RESULTS

Most patient participants were white, older, described living in suburban areas, and were long-term opioid users. We identified template themes related to individual, interpersonal, intervention, and implementation factors and inferred applications for SBI design or potential SBI implementation strategies. We found that patients needed education on opioid safety and general opioid use, regardless of opioid use behaviors. Pharmacists described needing patient-centered training, protocols, and scripts to provide SBI. A short-self-reported screening and brief interventions including counseling, naloxone, and involving prescribers were discussed by both groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Through this implementation-focused qualitative study, we identified patient needs such as opioid safety education delivered in a private and convenient format and pharmacist needs including training, workflow integration, protocols, and a time-efficient intervention for effective pharmacy-based SBI. Alternate formats of SBI using digital health technologies may be needed for effective implementation. Our findings can be used to develop patient-centered pharmacy-based SBI that can be implemented within actual pharmacy practice.

As-needed opioid dosing for emergency patients with a daily use of opioids

BACKGROUND

Patients with a daily use of opioids have a higher risk of insufficient pain treatment during hospitalization than other patients. This study aimed to examine whether as-needed opioid doses (PRN) were adequately adjusted when patients were admitted to the emergency department (ED) with pain.

METHODS

Patients, with a daily use of opioids, who received PRN opioid within the first 3 h after admission at the ED at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, were prospectively included from February 2021 to June 2021. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients receiving an inadequate initial dose of PRN opioid, here defined as <15% of daily dose of opioids (DDO) based on sparse evidence, but aligning with the prevailing clinical practice. Secondary outcomes included risk of an inadequate PRN dose in relation to DDO (patients were dichotomized into two groups (DDO <60 or ≥60 mg/day).

RESULTS

Among 252 patients admitted to the ED with a daily use of opioids, 149 were admitted with pain and 82 received a PRN opioid dose within 3 h. Twenty-seven out of 82 (33%) patients received a PRN dose of <15% of DDO (95% CI: 23.7-43). When dichotomised; 10 out of 50 (20%) patients with a DDO <60 mg/day (95% CI: 10.0-33.7) versus 17 out of 32 (53.1%) patients with a DDO ≥60 mg/day (95% CI: 34.7-70.9) received an inadequate PRN dose (relative risk, RR: 2.65 [95% CI: 1.4-5.1]).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with daily use of opioids presenting in the ED with acute pain had a high risk of inadequate PRN opioid dose, especially if the DDO was high. Awareness about and education focusing on sufficient PRN doses for patients with a daily use of opioids is (still) called for.

Pain: The Silent Public Health Epidemic

More than 50 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, costing our society an estimated 565 to 635 billion dollars annually. Its complexity and training deficits in healthcare providers result in many patients receiving ineffective care. Large health inequities also exist in access to effective pain care for vulnerable populations. The traumatic history of indigenous people and people of color in regards to the experience of pain care perpetuates a lack of trust in the healthcare system, causing many to hesitate to seek medical treatment for painful events and conditions. Other vulnerable populations include those with sickle cell disease or fibromyalgia, whose experience of pain has not been well-understood. There are both barriers to care and stigma for patients with pain, including those taking prescribed doses of long-term opioids, those with known substance use disorder, and those with mental health diagnoses. The suffering of patients with pain can be "invisible" to the clinician, and to one's community at large. Pain can affect all people; but those most vulnerable to not getting effective care may continue to suffer in silence because their voices are not heard. Since 1973, pain societies around the globe have worked tirelessly to bring clinicians together to advance pain and opioid education, research, and patient care. These improvements consist of pain education, integrative treatment, and the understanding that a therapeutic alliance is critical to effective pain management. Pain education for both pre and post-licensure health professionals has increased substantially over the last decade. In addition, integrative and interdisciplinary approaches for clinical pain management are now considered best practices in pain care for patients with moderate to severe pain in addition to the development of a strong therapeutic alliance.

"I'm Not the Same Person Anymore": Thematic Analysis Exploring Experiences of Dependence to Prescribed Analgesics in Patients with Chronic Pain in the UK

INTRODUCTION

The rising issue of dependence to prescribed pain medication for patients with chronic pain has been highlighted in the literature; however, there is a dearth of research exploring the patient perspective of this dependence in the United Kingdom (UK). This exploratory qualitative study aimed to investigate experiences of prescribed analgesic dependence in patients with chronic pain in the UK.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine UK-based participants (eight females, one male) with a mean age of 44, who experienced chronic pain and identified as dependent to their prescribed pain medication. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim and the data analysed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Three main themes emerged, including perceptions of dependence, interactions with others, and interactions with medical professionals. The findings revealed how the experiences focused on the participants' own perception of their dependence, such as its perceived impact on their life and how the dependence began, and the relation of the dependence to their social environment, for example, doctor-patient relations.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest practical implications for the management of dependence such as, raising awareness of the risks of dependence with these medications in the UK, and stricter observation of those taking the medications to identify dependence issues early.

Acceptability of a Pain History Assessment and Education Chatbot (Dolores) Across Age Groups in Populations With Chronic Pain: Development and Pilot Testing

BACKGROUND

The delivery of education on pain neuroscience and the evidence for different treatment approaches has become a key component of contemporary persistent pain management. Chatbots, or more formally conversation agents, are increasingly being used in health care settings due to their versatility in providing interactive and individualized approaches to both capture and deliver information. Research focused on the acceptability of diverse chatbot formats can assist in developing a better understanding of the educational needs of target populations.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to detail the development and initial pilot testing of a multimodality pain education chatbot (Dolores) that can be used across different age groups and investigate whether acceptability and feedback were comparable across age groups following pilot testing.

METHODS

Following an initial design phase involving software engineers (n=2) and expert clinicians (n=6), a total of 60 individuals with chronic pain who attended an outpatient clinic at 1 of 2 pain centers in Australia were recruited for pilot testing. The 60 individuals consisted of 20 (33%) adolescents (aged 10-18 years), 20 (33%) young adults (aged 19-35 years), and 20 (33%) adults (aged >35 years) with persistent pain. Participants spent 20 to 30 minutes completing interactive chatbot activities that enabled the Dolores app to gather a pain history and provide education about pain and pain treatments. After the chatbot activities, participants completed a custom-made feedback questionnaire measuring the acceptability constructs pertaining to health education chatbots. To determine the effect of age group on the acceptability ratings and feedback provided, a series of binomial logistic regression models and cumulative odds ordinal logistic regression models with proportional odds were generated.

RESULTS

Overall, acceptability was high for the following constructs: engagement, perceived value, usability, accuracy, responsiveness, adoption intention, esthetics, and overall quality. The effect of age group on all acceptability ratings was small and not statistically significant. An analysis of open-ended question responses revealed that major frustrations with the app were related to Dolores' speech, which was explored further through a comparative analysis. With respect to providing negative feedback about Dolores' speech, a logistic regression model showed that the effect of age group was statistically significant (χ22=11.7; P=.003) and explained 27.1% of the variance (Nagelkerke R2). Adults and young adults were less likely to comment on Dolores' speech compared with adolescent participants (odds ratio 0.20, 95% CI 0.05-0.84 and odds ratio 0.05, 95% CI 0.01-0.43, respectively). Comments were related to both speech rate (too slow) and quality (unpleasant and robotic).

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides support for the acceptability of pain history and education chatbots across different age groups. Chatbot acceptability for adolescent cohorts may be improved by enabling the self-selection of speech characteristics such as rate and personable tone.

"It's All in Your Head": A Meta-Synthesis of Qualitative Research About Disenfranchising Talk Experienced by Female Patients with Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions

Interactions between female patients with chronic pain and their medical providers in which providers question or contest the "realness" or nature of their illness experience (e.g. "It's all in your head") have been reported extensively in the extant qualitative literature, particularly for poorly understood ("contested") chronic pain syndromes. Many terms have been offered to describe this talk (e.g. invalidating, dismissive), resulting in conceptual fragmentation and isolated silos of research which together report about one communicative phenomenon. To rectify this fragmentation, the present study offers a meta-synthesis which explores, analyzes, and integrates the findings of 82 qualitative interview studies representing the patient-provider communication experiences of 2,434 female patients living with one or more of 10 chronic overlapping pain conditions (COPCs). COPCs are costly, gendered, and poorly understood. From the meta-synthesis, three key concepts are identified: (1) Functions of disenfranchising talk: Discrediting, silencing, and stereotyping; (2) Effects of disenfranchising talk: Harmed agency, credibility; access to care, support, and resources; and perception of patient-provider relationship; and (3) Responses to disenfranchising talk: Submission, critique, and resistance. Findings confirm the centrality of gender in the experience of disenfranchising talk, underscore the need to adopt an intersectional approach to the study of this talk along additional axes of race and class, and offer heuristic value toward conceptually unifying research about female COPC patients' experiences of disenfranchising talk from providers.

Clinical conversations in the management of chronic musculoskeletal pain in vulnerable patient populations: a meta-ethnography

PURPOSE

The purpose of this meta-ethnography was to synthesize the research exploring patient/provider perceptions of clinical conversations (CC) centered on chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) in vulnerable adult populations.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A systematic search for qualitative/mixed method studies in CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, Sociology Database in ProQuest, and Web of Science used PRIMSA-P guidelines. Data synthesis used eMERGe guidelines; findings were presented in nested hierarchal theoretical frameworks.

RESULTS

The included studies explored patients' (n = 18), providers' (n = 2), or patients' and providers' perspectives (n = 5) with diversity in patient participants represented (n = 415): immigrants, indigenous people, women, and veterans. Themes for each level of the nested hierarchal models revealed greater complexity in patients' perceptions about the CC in CMP relative to clinicians' perceptions. A unique finding was sociopolitical/historical factors can influence CC for vulnerable populations.

CONCLUSION

The combined nested hierarchical models provided insight into the need for clinicians to be aware of the broader array of influences on the CC. Key themes indicated that improving continuity of care and cultural training are needed to improve the CC. Additionally, due to patients' perception of how healthcare systems' policies influence the CC, patients should be consulted to guide the change needed to improve inequitable outcomes.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONHealthcare providers wishing to improve the clinical conversation in chronic musculoskeletal pain can more broadly explore potential factors influencing patients' experiences and perceptions.Screening during the clinical conversation can include assessing for sociopolitical and historical influences on patients' experiences with chronic musculoskeletal pain.Healthcare providers can explore how to minimize disjointed care in an effort to improve the clinical conversation and outcomes in chronic musculoskeletal pain.Healthcare providers and patients can work together to improve inequitable outcomes for vulnerable adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain.This may include cultural training for healthcare providers that is informed by patients.

Patient-Provider Shared Decision-Making, Trust, and Opioid Misuse Among US Veterans Prescribed Long-Term Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain

BACKGROUND

Patient-provider shared decision-making is associated with better treatment adherence and pain outcomes in opioid-specific pain management. One possible mechanism through which shared decision-making may impact pain management outcomes is trust in one's prescribing provider. Elucidating relationships between factors that enhance the patient-provider relationship, such as shared decision-making and trust, may reduce risks associated with opioid treatment, such as opioid misuse.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating effect of trust in one's prescribing provider on the relationship between shared decision-making and current opioid misuse.

DESIGN

A secondary analysis of data from a prospective cohort study of US Veterans (N = 1273) prescribed long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) for chronic non-cancer pain.

PARTICIPANTS

Eligibility criteria included being prescribed LTOT, ability to speak and read English, and access to a telephone. Veterans were excluded if they had a cancer diagnosis, received opioid agonist therapy for opioid use disorder, or evidence of pending discontinuation of LTOT. Stratified random sampling was employed to oversample racial and ethnic minorities and women veterans.

MAIN MEASURES

Physician Participatory Decision-Making assessed level of patient involvement in medical decision-making, the Trust in Provider Scale assessed interpersonal trust in patient-provider relationships, and the Current Opioid Misuse Measure assessed opioid misuse.

KEY RESULTS

Patient-provider shared decision-making had a total significant effect on opioid misuse, in the absence of the mediator (c =  - 0.243, p < 0.001), such that higher levels of shared decision-making were associated with lower levels of reported opioid misuse. When trust in provider was added to the mediation model, the indirect effect of shared decision-making on opioid misuse through trust in provider remained significant (c' =  - 0.147, p = 0.007).

CONCLUSIONS

Shared decision-making is associated with less prescription opioid misuse through the trust that is fostered between patients and providers.

Opioid-related policy changes: Experiences and perspectives from people who use opioids to manage non-cancer chronic pain

INTRODUCTION

People who use prescription opioids to manage non-cancer chronic pain are particularly vulnerable to opioid-related policy change. This study aims to better understand what prescription opioids provide this population, what concerns they have in the context of new and changing opioid policies, such as the recently implemented prescription drug monitoring program in Victoria, Australia, their experiences of prescription opioid use, chronic pain and what they would like their healthcare to look like.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 people who use opioids to manage chronic non-cancer pain.

RESULTS

Prescription opioids played an important role in supporting quality of life and mental health. However, experiences of stigma and lack of empathy from healthcare providers were common. Participants sought accurate information about their medications and expressed a desire for shared decision-making in healthcare.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Prescription opioids can play an important role in pain management as well as social and psychological functioning for people living with non-cancer chronic pain. Opioid-related policy changes to medication availability need to consider the potential impacts that reducing, limiting or discontinuing opioids may have on this population. Including the voices of people who use prescription opioids to manage non-cancer chronic pain in respectful, compassionate and meaningful ways.

Influence of patient trust in provider and health literacy on receipt of guideline-concordant chronic opioid therapy in HIV care settings

OBJECTIVE

Persons with HIV (PWH) frequently receive opioids for pain. Health literacy and trust in provider may impact patient-provider communication, and thus receipt of guideline-concordant opioid monitoring. We analyzed baseline data of HIV-positive patients on chronic opioid therapy (COT) in a trial to improve guideline-concordant COT in HIV clinics.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

Two hospital-based safetynet HIV clinics in Boston and Atlanta.

PATIENTS AND PARTICIPANTS

A cohort of patients who were ≥18 years, HIV-positive, had received ≥ 3 opioid prescriptions from a study site ≥21 days apart within a 6-month period during the prior year and had ≥1 visit at the HIV clinic in the prior 18 months.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Adjusted logistic regression models examined whether health literacy and trust in provider (scale scored 11-55, higher indicates more trust) were associated with: (1) ≥ 2 urine drug tests (UDTs) and (2) presence of an opioid treatment agreement.

RESULTS

Among 166 PWH, mean trust in provider was 47.4 (SD 6.6); 117 (70 percent) had adequate health literacy. Fifty patients (30 percent) had ≥ 2 UDTs and 20 (12 percent) had a treatment agreement. The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for a one-point increase in trust in provider was 0.97 for having ≥ 2 UDTs (95 percent CI 0.92-1.02) and 1.03 for opioid treatment agreement (95 percent CI 0.95-1.12). The aOR for adequate health literacy was 0.89 for having ≥ 2 UDTs (95 percent CI 0.42-1.88) and 1.66 for an opioid treatment agreement (95 percent CI 0.52-5.31).

CONCLUSIONS

Health literacy and trust in provider were not associated with chronic opioid therapy quality outcomes.

Measuring public attitudes towards people living with chronic diseases in Arabic-speaking populations: adaptation and development of the Social Stigma Scale of Chronic Diseases (SSS-CD)

BACKGROUND

A large proportion of the population in Arab countries suffer from chronic diseases. According to the statistics by the Global Health Estimates, chronic illnesses contribute by 71% to total deaths in the Arab region. While chronic illnesses have been demonstrated to carry high levels of social stigma, it is only recently that little research attention has been given to this topic in the Arab world. It is well-established that the social stigma construct is culturally-dependent. Therefore, the lack of an Arabic measure highlighted the urgent need for developing a culturally adapted and valid instrument to assess social stigma toward people living with chronic diseases. In this study, we aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Arabic translation, adaptation and development of "the Social Stigma Scale of Chronic Diseases" (SSS-CD).

METHOD

Fifteen items derived from the literature and assessing social stigma towards chronic diseases have been administered to 570 Arabic-speaking adults from the Lebanese general population (aged 24.59 ± 6.75years; 68.6% women). Items were translated into Arabic using a forward-backward translation method. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using a principal-axis EFA on the first split-half subsample, followed by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) tested on the model extracted from the EFA on the second split-half subsample, were conducted to examine the construct validity of the SSS-CD. Fit indices were deemed adequate if the normed model chi-square (χ²/df) ≤ 3, the Steiger-Lind root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) ≤ 0.08, the Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) and the comparative fit index (CFI) ≥ 0.90.

RESULTS

Findings revealed that the 10-item SSS-CD has a unidimensional factor structure, with the following fit indices: χ²/df = 92.95/34 = 2.73, RMSEA = 0.077 (90% CI 0.059, 0.096), SRMR = 0.062, CFI = 0.939, TLI = 0.919. A good internal consistency was demonstrated by a McDonald's omega value of 0.73 for the total score. Findings also supported invariance across gender, with men exhibiting higher levels of social stigma attached to chronic diseases than women. All three dimensions of stigmatization (social, psychological and evolutionary stigmatization) were positively correlated with SSS-CD scores (Social self-interest [r = .40; p < .001], Evolutionary self-interest [r = .37; p < .001], Psychological self-interest [r = .42; p < .001]), demonstrating relatively strong convergent validity.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that the SSS-CD has robust psychometric qualities. We thus preliminarily suggest that the scale is valid, reliable and suitable for use among Arabic-speaking people from the general population to measure public attitudes towards people living with chronic diseases. Providing this psychometrically sound measure will hopefully enable to foster research in this area in order to draw a clear overview of the prevalence and characteristics of social stigma attached to chronic diseases in Arabic-speaking communities. However, given that this was the first study to examine the psychometric properties of the SSS-CD, the present findings and conclusions should be considered tentative pending future cross-national validation studies.

Multiple-Case Study Exploration of an Occupational Perspective in a Persistent Pain Clinic

There is growing interest in an occupational perspective when working with people experiencing chronic pain. The Activity Card Sort Australia (18-64) is a client-centered and occupation-centered tool that has not been explored with this population. The aim of this study was to explore the process and experience of completing the ACS-Aus (18-64) with people experiencing chronic pain. This observational multiple-case study included video and audio-recordings of three participants (one male, one female, one nonbinary) completing the ACS-Aus (18-64) and semi-structured interviews at 1-week follow-up. Findings The findings for the process included two themes: the interaction (understanding engagement, therapeutic relationship and rapport, motivational interviewing) and the card sort (storytelling and reminiscing, identifying gaps and possibilities, categorizing and grouping cards). Occupational narratives of participants were developed from the experience. The ACS-Aus (18-64) supported participants to re-engage with their occupational selves and imagine future occupational engagement. Longitudinal studies are required to explore outcomes.

Building a strong foundation from the ground up: the impact of a medical student substance use disorder organization on curriculum and community

Due to the increasing rates of substance use disorders (SUDs), accidental overdoses, and associated high mortality rates, there is an urgent need for well-trained physicians who can grasp these complex issues and help struggling patients. Preparing these physicians occurs through targeted education and clinical exposure in conjunction with medical school curricula in the field of addiction medicine. Medical students can often feel overwhelmed by the medical school curriculum and changes to the curriculum take time, money, and administrative commitment to ratify. Implementing a student organization dedicated to SUD education can be a solution to provide clinical exposure, education and student autonomy in their medical school experience. At Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit vs. Addiction (DvA) is a student-run organization that is filling the gap in SUD education for medical students whilst providing assistance to the community. DvA not only extends clinical education for physicians in training, but it also provides the medical school with an opportunity to allow students to create a blueprint for education initiatives that can be incorporated as a mainstay in the school's technical trainings. Herein, we describe the evolution of this organization and its activities.

Fifty Years of Trust Research in Health Care: A Synthetic Review

Policy Points First, policymakers can create conditions that will facilitate public trust in health care organizations by making creating and enforcing health policies that make exploitative behavior costly. Second, policymakers can bolster the trustworthiness of health care markets and organizations by using their regulatory authority to address and mitigate harm from conflicts-of-interest and regulatory capture. Third, policymakers and government agencies can further safeguard the public's trust by being transparent and effective about their role in the provision of health services to the public.

CONTEXT

Trust plays a critical role in facilitating health care delivery and calls for rebuilding trust in health care are increasingly commonplace. This article serves as a primer on the trust literature for health policymakers, organizational leaders, clinicians, and researchers based on the long history of engagement with the topic among health policy and services researchers.

METHODS

We conducted a synthetic review of the health services and health policy literatures on trust since 1970. We organize our findings by trustor-trustee dyads, highlighting areas of convergence, tensions and contradictions, and methodological considerations. We close by commenting on the challenges facing the study of trust in health care, the potential value in borrowing from other disciplines, and imperatives for the future.

FINDINGS

We identified 725 articles for review. Most focused on patients' trust in clinicians (n = 499), but others explored clinicians' trust in patients (n = 11), clinicians' trust in clinicians (n = 69), and clinician/patient trust in organizations (n = 19) and systems (n = 127).  Across these five subliteratures, there was lack of consensus about definitions, dimensions, and key attributes of trust. Researchers leaned heavily on cross-sectional survey designs, with limited methodological attention to the relational or contextual realities of trust. Trust has most commonly been treated as an independent variable related to attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. We suggest two challenges have limited progress for the field: (1) conceptual murkiness in terms and theories, and (2) limited observability of the phenomena. Insights from philosophy, sociology, economics, and psychology offer insights for how to advance both the theoretical and empirical study of health-related trust.

CONCLUSION

Conceptual clarity and methodological creativity are critical to advancing health-related trust research. Although rigorous research in this area is challenging, the essential role of trust in population health necessitates continued grappling with the topic.

Outcomes of Patients with Opioid-Related Diagnoses in Acute Coronary Syndrome: a National Inpatient Sample-Based Analysis

BACKGROUND

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and opioid use are both major causes of morbidity and mortality globally. Although epidemiological studies point to increased risk of ACS in opioid users, in-hospital management and outcomes are unknown for this population when presenting with ACS. We sought to determine whether there are differences for in-hospital outcomes and management of ACS for those with and without opioid-related diagnoses (ORD).

METHODS AND RESULTS

From the National Inpatient Sample database, we extracted patients hospitalized between 2012 and 2016 for ACS. The primary independent variable was ORD by International Classification of Diseases, 9th and 10th Revision, codes. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality; secondary outcomes were cardiac arrest, receipt of angiogram, and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Statistical comparisons were performed using χ2 test and Student's t test. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to determine the independent association between ORD and outcomes of interest. Among the estimated 5.8 million admissions for ACS, the proportion of patients with ORD increased over the study period (p for trend < 0.01). Compared to patients without ORD presenting with ACS, patients with ORD were younger with fewer cardiovascular risk factors. Yet, in-hospital mortality was higher in patients with ORD presenting with ACS (AOR 1.36, 95% CI 1.26-1.48). Patients with ORD were more likely to experience in-hospital cardiac arrest (AOR 1.42, 95% CI 1.23-1.63) and less likely to undergo angiogram (AOR 0.42, 95% CI 0.38-0.45) or PCI (AOR 0.30, 95% CI 0.28-0.32).

CONCLUSION

Despite evidence of increased risk of mortality and cardiac arrest, patients with ORD admitted for ACS are less likely to receive ACS management.

Person-centred education and advice for people with low back pain: Making the best of what we know

BACKGROUND

The first-line treatment consistently recommended for people with low back pain is patient education and advice. Regardless of the duration of low back pain, clinicians should provide education on the benign nature of low back pain, reassurance about the absence of a serious medical condition, and advice to remain active. There is little guidance on how best to provide this care.

OBJECTIVE

This Masterclass will draw on recent evidence to explore how physical therapy clinicians could deliver person-centred education and advice to people with low back pain to refine their clinical consultation.

DISCUSSION

First, we highlight the potential value of providing validation to acknowledge the distressing experience and consequences of low back pain. Second, we describe a tool to open channels of communication to provide education and advice in a patient-centred and efficient way. Clinicians could consider using the Attitude toward Education and advice for Low back pain Questionnaire to gain an insight into patient attitudes toward education and advice at the outset of a clinical encounter. Finally, we provide options for tailoring patient education and advice to promote self-management of low back pain based on patient attitudes. We present evidence that a positive attitude toward messages about causes rather than messages about physical activity predicts intention to self-manage low back pain. We combine this evidence to suggest a pathway for clinicians to provide education and advice to people with low back pain within the time constraints of a clinical consultation.

Healthcare provider knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes regarding opioids for chronic non-cancer pain in North America prior to the emergence of COVID-19: A systematic review of qualitative research

Background

Balance between benefits and harms of using opioids for the management of chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) must be carefully considered on a case-by-case basis. There is no one-size-fits-all approach that can be executed by prescribers and clinicians when considering this therapy.

Aim

The aim of this study was to identify barriers and facilitators for prescribing opioids for CNCP through a systematic review of qualitative literature.

Methods

Six databases were searched from inception to June 2019 for qualitative studies reporting on provider knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, or practices pertaining to prescribing opioids for CNCP in North America. Data were extracted, risk of bias was rated, and confidence in evidence was graded.

Results

Twenty-seven studies reporting data from 599 health care providers were included. Ten themes emerged that influenced clinical decision making when prescribing opioids. Providers were more comfortable to prescribe opioids when (1) patients were actively engaged in pain self-management, (2) clear institutional prescribing policies were present and prescription drug monitoring programs were used, (3) long-standing relationships and strong therapeutic alliance were present, and (4) interprofessional supports were available. Factors that reduced likelihood of prescribing opioids included (1) uncertainty toward subjectivity of pain and efficacy of opioids, (2) concern for the patient (e.g., adverse effects) and community (i.e., diversion), (3) previous negative experiences (e.g., receiving threats), (4) difficulty enacting guidelines, and (5) organizational barriers (e.g., insufficient appointment duration and lengthy documentation).

Conclusions

Understanding barriers and facilitators that influence opioid-prescribing practices offers insight into modifiable targets for interventions that can support providers in delivering care consistent with practice guidelines.

Discovery and Structural Explorations of G-Protein Biased μ-Opioid Receptor Agonists

Compounds that activate only the G-protein signalling pathway represent an effective strategy for making safer opioids. In the present study, we report the design, synthesis and evaluation of two classes of novel PZM21 derivatives containing the benzothiophene ring and biphenyl ring group respectively as biased μ-opioid receptor (μOR) agonists. The new compound SWG-LX-33 showed potent μOR agonist activity and produced μOR-dependent analgesia. SWG-LX-33 does not activate the β-arrestin-2 signalling pathway in vitro even at high concentrations. Computational docking demonstrated the amino acid residue ASN150 to be critical for the weak efficacy and potency of μOR agonists in arrestin recruitment.

Structural violence and barriers to pain management during an opioid crisis: accounts of women who use drugs in Nigeria

Chronic pain management among marginalised populations have been extensively researched in North America, particularly amidst the opioid crisis. But little published research exists on this subject from Africa. This study explored experiences and management of chronic pain among marginalised women in the context of regulation of opioid prescribing using data from 16 qualitative interviews with women who use drugs (WWUD) in Uyo, Nigeria. Chronic pain was exacerbated by structural and everyday violence that acted to marginalise women and create a context of risk for inadequately managed pain. Participants experienced difficulty accessing biomedical pain management due to structural and systemic barriers, including cost, restrictions on opioid prescribing, stigma and other discriminatory practices, communication barriers and lack of social support. Restrictions on opioid prescribing and systemic discriminations against marginalised WWUD encouraged reliance on informal sources for falsified and substandard medications for pain treatment, which increased the risk of harm. Findings highlight a need for multi-component responses that address structural and systemic barriers to pain management, including improving access to opioid medications.

Over-rating pain is overrated: A fundamental self-other bias in pain reporting behavior

Wide-spread cultural beliefs influence personal experiences and clinical treatment of pain, yet are often unexamined and unchallenged in the pain literature. The common cultural belief that people generally over-report or exaggerate pain is familiar, reflected in discordant patient-provider pain assessments, and compounded in the context of disparities in pain treatment. However, no studies have directly measured the prevalence of this belief among the general population, nor challenged the validity of this assumption by assessing normative pain reporting in clinical settings. Results of an initial and replication study suggest that reporting pain accurately "as-is" is the norm, yet most people still believe that others normatively over-report pain. We refer to the phenomenon by which most people report their pain as they experience it while paradoxically believing that others over-report their pain as the fundamental pain bias, and suggest this false perception may contribute to larger scale pain stigma and poor outcomes for people in pain. We also identify counter-stereotypical patterns of pain reporting among groups (i.e., women, Latinx Americans) that face more disparate care. Results reinforce the need for respecting patient pain reports, and suggest that distrust surrounding others' pain experiences is prevalent in society.

Collaboration between adult patients and practitioners when making decisions about prescribing opioid medicines for chronic non-cancer pain in primary care: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

Long-term opioid therapy (>12 months) is not effective for improving chronic non-cancer pain and function. Where patients are not experiencing pain relief with long-term opioids, the opioid should be tapered and discontinuation considered. Practitioners may find it challenging to tell patients experiencing pain that they are better off reducing or not taking medicines that do not help. This review aims to ascertain what is published about: (1) the interaction and (2) the nature of the relationship between practitioners and patients when prescribing opioids for chronic non-cancer pain in primary care.

METHOD

A scoping review of English-language qualitative, quantitative or mixed-method studies in databases including: MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, AMED, BNI, CINALH EMCARE and HMIC. The identified papers were reviewed to provide a descriptive summary of the literature.

RESULTS

The review identified 20 studies. The studies used a range of methods including interviews, focus groups, audio and video recordings of clinical consultations, telephone survey and data from patient records. One study reported that researchers had engaged with a patient advisory group to guide their research. Patients expressed the importance of being treated as individuals, not being judged and being involved in prescribing decisions. Practitioners expressed difficulty in managing patient expectations and establishing trust. Opioid risk and practitioner suspicion shape opioid prescribing decisions. There is a paucity of literature about how precisely practitioners overcome interactional challenges and implement personalised care in practice.

CONCLUSION

The studies in this review ascertain that practitioners and patients often find it challenging to achieve shared decisions in opioid review consultations. Effective communication is essential to achieve good clinical practice. Collaborative research with PPI partners should be aimed at identifying communication practices that support practitioners to achieve shared decisions with patients when reviewing opioids for chronic non-cancer pain.

Chronic Pain and Opioid Prescribing: Three Ways for Navigating Complexity at the Clinical‒Population Health Interface

Clinically focused interventions for people living with pain, such as health professional education, clinical decision support systems, prescription drug monitoring programs, and multidisciplinary care to support opioid tapering, have all been promoted as important solutions to the North American opioid crisis. Yet none have so far delivered substantive beneficial opioid-related population health outcomes. In fact, while total opioid prescribing has leveled off or reduced in many jurisdictions, population-level harms from opioids have continued to increase dramatically. We attribute this failure partly to a poor recognition of the epistemic and ethical complexities at the interface of clinical and population health. We draw on a framework of knowledge networks in wicked problems to identify 3 strategies to help navigate these complexities: (1) designing and evaluating clinically focused interventions as complex interventions, (2) reformulating evidence to make population health dynamics apparent, and (3) appealing to the inseparability of facts and values to support decision-making in uncertainty. We advocate that applying these strategies will better equip clinically focused interventions as complements to structural and public health interventions to achieve the desired beneficial population health effects. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(S1):S56-S65. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306500).

Trust in Hospital Physicians Among Patients With Substance Use Disorder Referred to an Addiction Consult Service: A Mixed-methods Study

BACKGROUND

Trust is essential in patient-physician relationships. Hospitalized patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) often experience stigma and trauma in the hospital, which can impede trust. Little research has explored the role of hospital-based addictions care in creating trusting relationships with patients with SUDs. This study describes how trust in physicians changed among hospitalized people with SUDs who were seen by an interprofessional addiction medicine service.

METHODS

We analyzed data from hospitalized patients with SUD seen by an addiction consult service from 2015 to 2018. Participants completed surveys at baseline and 30 to 90 days after hospital discharge. Follow-up assessments included open-ended questions exploring participant experiences with hospitalization and the addiction consult service. We measured provider trust using the Wake Forest Trust scale. We modeled trust trajectories using discrete mixture modeling, and sampled qualitative interviews from those trust trajectories.

RESULTS

Of 328 participants with SUD who had prior hospitalizations but had not previously been seen by an addiction consult service, 196 (59.8%) had both baseline and follow-up trust scores. We identified 3 groups of patients: Persistent-Low Trust, Increasing Trust, and Persistent-High Trust and 4 qualitative themes around in-hospital trust: humanizing care, demonstrating addiction expertise, reliability, and granting agency.

CONCLUSIONS

Most participants retained or increased to high trust levels after hospitalization with an addiction consult service. Addiction consult services can create environments where healthcare providers build trust with, and humanize care for, hospitalized patients with SUD, and can also mitigate power struggles that hospitalized patients with SUD frequently experience.

What do people post on social media relative to low back pain? A content analysis of Australian data

OBJECTIVE

Low back pain is the leading contributor to the global disability burden. The Global Spine Care Initiative (GSCI) recommend patient-centred care to stem the cost of low back pain. One way to enhance patient-centred care is by better understanding what is relevant for people with low back pain. Exploring social media posts about low back pain could offer this insight and provide valuable information for health care professionals to facilitate active participation in patient-centred care.

METHODS

We used an inductive content analysis method. In the form of social media posts, data on Twitter and Instagram were collected from June to August 2018. The posts were geo-targeted to Australia. We recorded the number of status broadcasts that contained a low back pain keyword and responses. We developed a codebook to describe the data and applied it to identify low back pain themes.

RESULTS

We analysed 768 posts containing 457 status broadcasts and 311 responses. Almost half (49%) of status broadcasts about low back pain seemed to seek validation. Expressing sympathy (31%) was the most common response to a status broadcast about low back pain. There were no public responses to 76% of status broadcasts about low back pain. Our analysis yielded two core themes, "hear my pain" and "I feel for you".

CONCLUSIONS

Posts about low back pain on social media often seem to suggest that the person posting is seeking validation. Responses typically express sympathy or a shared experience; yet, there is no response to most social media posts about low back pain.

How and Why Patient Concerns Influence Pain Reporting: A Qualitative Analysis of Personal Accounts and Perceptions of Others' Use of Numerical Pain Scales

Complex factors influence how people report and interpret numerical pain ratings. Such variability can introduce noise and systematic bias into clinical pain assessment. Identification of factors that influence self-rated pain and its interpretation by others may bolster utility of these scales. In this qualitative study, 338 participants described motivations for modulating their own pain reports relative to a numerical pain scale (0–10), as well as perceptions of others’ pain reporting modulation. Responses indicated that people over-report pain to enhance provider belief/responsiveness or the likelihood of pain relief, and out of fear of future pain or potential illness. Concerns of how one’s pain affects and is perceived by others, and financial concerns motivated pain under-reporting. Unprompted, many participants reported never modulating their pain ratings, citing trust in providers and personal ethics. Similar reasons were assumed to motivate others’ pain ratings. However, participants often attributed others’ over-reporting to internal causes, and their own to external. This bias may underlie common assumptions that patients over-report pain for nefarious reasons, distort interpretation of pain reports, and contribute to pain invalidation. Recognition of patient concerns and one’s own personal biases toward others’ pain reporting may improve patient-provider trust and support precision of numerical pain ratings.

"They think you're trying to get the drug": Qualitative investigation of chronic pain patients' health care experiences during the opioid overdose epidemic in Canada

Background: The opioid overdose epidemic has led health care providers to increased vigilance for opioid-related risks in the treatment of chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP). Media have conveyed stigmatizing representations of opioid analgesics. Aims: This study aimed to understand how the opioid overdose epidemic has impacted health care experiences among people living with CNCP in two Canadian provinces (British Columbia, Quebec). Methods: This qualitative study proceeded through 22 semi-structured interviews conducted in 2019. Participants were recruited from a cross-sectional survey examining the effects of the opioid overdose epidemic on individuals with CNCP. We collected in-depth narratives that we analyzed using a thematic framework. The sample included 12 women and 10 men aged 20 to 70 years, with 11 from each province. Results: Several participants described increased difficulty in accessing medical services for pain since the onset of the opioid overdose epidemic. They reported that some physicians urged them to taper opioids regardless of their pain severity and functional limitations. Some participants reported facing discrimination and care denials as they were labeled "drug-seeking," especially in hospital. Depending on their educational resources, they were unequally able to counter providers' stigmatizing behaviors. However, participants described empathetic relationships with providers with whom they had a long-term relationship. Some participants drew distinctions between themselves and the stigmatized status of "addict" in ways that reinforced stigma toward people who are dependent on opioids. Conclusions: Health policies and provider education programs aimed at reducing opioid-related stigma are needed to counter detrimental consequences of the opioid overdose epidemic for people living with CNCP.

Chronic Noncancer Pain and Opioid Addiction: Diagnostic and Management Challenges

Chronic pain is associated with higher rates of psychiatric comorbidity, including substance use disorders. Patients with chronic pain often require opioids for their pain relief. Often, clinicians are reluctant to prescribe opioids to patients with chronic pain due to fear of patients becoming dependent on opioids. Diagnosing opioid addiction in chronic pain with comorbid prescription opioid use is challenging, as some of the symptoms of addiction overlap with those of physical dependence. A 28-year-old female presented with a history of recurrent abdominal pain beginning at the age of 16 years. The patient was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis and was prescribed tramadol orally or injections for pain. The patient started experiencing craving with repeated administration of tramadol. She started using it daily and increased her dose to about 6–7 ampoules per day. She also developed complications due to injections. She was not able to work due to her pain, as well as injection use. She would go to multiple chemist shops for getting herself injected with tramadol injections. She also developed depressive symptoms in this period. Due to abdominal pain, the patient was admitted in the gastroenterology ward, from where she was shifted to the psychiatry ward for the management of opioid misuse and depressive symptoms. The patient was diagnosed to be suffering from opioid dependence syndrome with depressive episodes, for which she was provided tablet buprenorphine 14 mg/day dose along with tablet sertraline 150 mg/day. The case demonstrates several challenges in the diagnosis and management of opioid dependence and chronic pain when they occur simultaneously.

Clinician and patient beliefs about diagnostic imaging for low back pain: a systematic qualitative evidence synthesis

OBJECTIVE

Overuse of diagnostic imaging for patients with low back pain remains common. The underlying beliefs about diagnostic imaging that could drive overuse remain unclear. We synthesised qualitative research that has explored clinician, patient or general public beliefs about diagnostic imaging for low back pain.

DESIGN

A qualitative evidence synthesis using a thematic analysis.

METHODS

We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED and PsycINFO from inception to 17 June 2019. Qualitative studies that interviewed clinicians, patients and/or general public exploring beliefs about diagnostic imaging for low back pain were included. Four review authors independently extracted data and organised these according to themes and subthemes. We used the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme tool to critically appraise included studies. To assess confidence in review findings, we used the GRADE-Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative Research method.

RESULTS

We included 69 qualitative studies with 1747 participants. Key findings included: Patients and clinicians believe diagnostic imaging is an important test to locate the source of low back pain (33 studies, high confidence); patients with chronic low back pain believe pathological findings on diagnostic imaging provide evidence that pain is real (12 studies, moderate confidence); and clinicians ordered diagnostic imaging to reduce the risk of a missed diagnosis that could lead to litigation, and to manage patients' expectations (12 studies, moderate confidence).

CONCLUSION

Clinicians and patients can believe that diagnostic imaging is an important tool for locating the source of non-specific low back pain. Patients may underestimate the harms of unnecessary imaging tests. These beliefs could be important targets for intervention.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42017076047.

An exploration of attitudes and preferences towards medications among healthcare providers and persons with spinal cord injury/dysfunction: a qualitative comparison

PURPOSE

To compare the attitudes and preferences of persons with spinal cord injury/dysfunction (SCI/D) and healthcare providers regarding prescription medications, over-the-counter medications, and natural health products (NHPs).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with healthcare providers (n = 32) and persons with SCI/D (n = 19) in Canada. Inductive descriptive and interpretive analyses were conducted using data display matrices and a constant comparative approach.

RESULTS

Participants described differing perceptions of therapeutic benefits based on medication type, with shared attitudes about the therapeutic benefits of prescription medications and differing views about the effectiveness of NHPs. Despite the perceived effectiveness of prescription medications, persons with SCI/D preferred to avoid them due to concerns about side effects, safety, and stigma. Persons with SCI/D were often concerned about the long-term safety of prescription medications, whereas providers focused more on medication-related addictions. Participants discussed stigma relating to prescription medications, NHPs, and medicinal marijuana.

CONCLUSION

Healthcare providers and persons with SCI/D described different attitudes about and preferences for pharmacotherapeutic products, contributing to challenges in optimizing medication management. Strategies to improve medication management include shared decision-making to incorporate patient preferences into care plans and explicit discussions about long-term medication safety. Further, steps are needed to combat the stigma associated with medication use.Implications for rehabilitationFollowing a person-centered approach to shared decision-making, prescribers should initiate explicit conversations about patient medication preferences, short and long-term prescription medication side effects, and alternative treatment options.Regarding prescription medication safety, persons with spinal cord injury/dysfunction focused on the long term impact of medications, while providers focused on medication-related addictions, highlighting a disconnect that should be discussed during initiation, continuation, or discontinuation of a medication.Providers should be mindful of the stigma associated with taking multiple prescription medications, including medicinal marijuana, as well as the stigma associated with over-the-counter medications and natural health products.Providers could benefit from education about spinal cord injury/dysfunction-specific prescription medications and could benefit from increased education about natural health products.

Living with opioids: A qualitative study with patients with chronic low back pain

BACKGROUND

Opioids are one of the most prescribed treatments for chronic pain (CP). However, their long-term use (>3 months) has been surrounded by controversy, due to loss of beneficial effects.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the experiences of people with chronic non-malignant low back pain in Spain undergoing long-term treatment with opioids.

DESIGN

Qualitative study.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

We conducted 15 semi-structured interviews at the Pain Clinic with persons taking opioid treatment.

METHODS

The interviews were analysed by qualitative content analysis as described by Graneheim and Lundman, and developed categories and themes discussed in light of a biomedicalization framework.

MAIN RESULTS

We developed one overarching theme-Living with opioids: dependence and autonomy while seeking relief-and three categories: The long pathway to opioids due to the invisibility of pain; Opioids: from blind date to a long-term relationship; and What opioids cannot fix.

DISCUSSION

The long and difficult road to find effective treatments was a fundamental part of coping with pain, involving long-term relationships with the health system. This study reflects the benefits, and drawbacks of opioids, along with struggles to maintain autonomy and make decisions while undergoing long-term treatment with opioids. The paper also highlights the consequences of pain in the economy, family and social life of patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients' experiences should be considered to a greater extent by health-care professionals when giving information about opioids and setting treatment goals. Greater consideration of the social determinants of health that affect CP experiences might lead to more effective solutions to CP.

Addiction stigma and the production of impediments to take-home naloxone uptake

Opioid overdose deaths are a major health issue in Australia and around the world. Programmes to provide opioid consumers with 'take-home' naloxone to reverse overdose exist internationally, but uptake by mainstream health services and consumers remains inconsistent. Researchers have identified a range of important educational, training and logistical impediments to take-home naloxone uptake and distribution, yet they have focused less on the social dynamics that can enhance or limit access, such as stigma. In this article, we also explore impediments to uptake, drawing on qualitative interview data gathered for an Australian research project on take-home naloxone. Mobilising a performative approach to stigma, we argue that overdose and prevention are shaped by the social dynamics of stigma and, as such, responsibility for dealing with overdose, as with take-home naloxone, should also be considered social (i.e. shared among peers, the public, communities and governments). Our interview data illuminate the various ways in which addiction stigma limits the possibilities and capacities of take-home naloxone and overdose prevention. First, we focus on how stigma may impede professional information provision about take-home naloxone by limiting the extent to which it is presented as a matter of interest for all opioid consumers, not just those who consume opioids illicitly. Second, we explore how stigma may limit the scale-up and expansion of programmes and access points. From here, we focus on how stigma co-constitutes the politics of overdose and prevention, rendering take-home naloxone ill-suited to many social settings of overdose. In closing, we point out that stigma is not just a post hoc impediment to access to and use of take-home naloxone but is central to opioid overdose production itself, and to effective prevention. While take-home naloxone is an excellent life-saving initiative, uncritically valorising it may divert attention from broader goals, such as the de-stigmatisation of drug consumption through decriminalisation, and other ambitious attempts to reduce overdose.

Giving Credence to the Experience of X-Linked Hypophosphatemia in Adulthood: An Interprofessional Mixed-Methods Study

Purpose

X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) is a rare X-linked dominant metabolic bone disease, often diagnosed in childhood but causing increasing physical debilitation and pain in adulthood. Physical comorbidities of XLH in adulthood include pervasive and early-onset degenerative arthritis, mineralizing enthesophytes and osteophytes, osteomalacia and pseudofracture, dental abscesses, and hearing loss.

Methods

This mixed-methods analysis included physical findings, diagnostic imaging, occupational and physical therapy assessments, and semi-structured interviews by social work to understand the functional outcomes and lived experience of XLH in adulthood, through connections between qualitative data obtained by social work and occupational therapy with the quantitative findings from other disciplines.

Results

Three primary themes of chronic pain, fear of falling, and lack of credence given by health care providers emerged from qualitative data and could be correlated with physical findings from functional outcome assessments These concerns contrasted with resilience, adaption, and compensation demonstrated by participants.

Conclusions

While new treatments may ease the burden of disease for adults with XLH, further research, increased provider awareness and education, and further development of standards of care are needed to promote accurate and adequate assessment and intervention for adults with XLH.

"The strategies are the same, the problems may be different": a qualitative study exploring the experiences of healthcare and service providers with medication therapy management for individuals with spinal cord injury/dysfunction

Background

Persons with spinal cord injury/dysfunction (SCI/D) often take multiple medications to treat their secondary complications and chronic conditions (multimorbidity). Multiple healthcare and service providers are often involved in care, which can result in increased risk of fragmentation of care. Optimal medication therapy management (MTM) is essential to ensure therapeutic benefit from medication regimens. However, little is known about the experiences of providers in supporting persons with SCI/D with MTM.

Methods

Telephone interviews were conducted to explore healthcare and service providers’ experiences with MTM for persons with SCI/D. Participants were recruited through clinical organizations and researchers’ personal contacts. Participants were purposefully selected for diversity in profession and were required to be English speaking and to have provided care to at least one person with SCI/D. The qualitative interviews followed a semi-structured interview guide. Data display matrices were used in a constant comparative process for descriptive and interpretive analysis.

Results

Thirty-two interviews were conducted from April to December 2018. Each profession had distinct views on their roles in facilitating MTM for persons with SCI/D, which aligned with their respective scopes of practice. Shared provider tasks included tailoring medications, providing education, and exploring medication alternatives. Most participants felt that the care they provided for persons with SCI/D was similar to the care that they provided to other patients, with some differences relating to the physical limitations and medical complexity associated with SCI/D. Five factors were identified that impacted participants’ abilities to provide MTM for persons with SCI/D: patient self-management skills, provider knowledge and confidence, provider-patient relationships, interprofessional collaboration, and provider funding models including the use of technology-supported consultations.

Conclusion

While participants described commonalities in the barriers and enablers associated with providing MTM to persons with SCI/D and other populations, there were unique considerations identified. These SCI/D-specific considerations resulted in recommendations for improvements in MTM for this population. Future research should include perspectives from persons with SCI/D.

Self-treatment of skin infections by people who inject drugs

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Persons who inject drugs (PWID) experience high rates of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) and often access emergency or inpatient treatment. However, many PWID do not seek care and self-treat some or all of their infections. The goal of the current study was to examine predictors of self-treatment of SSTI in a sample of hospitalized PWID, and describe methods of and reasons for self-treatment.

METHODS

PWID (N = 252) were recruited from inpatient medical units at an urban safety-net hospital to join a behavioral intervention trial. The baseline interview focused on past-year SSTI incidence and related treatment, including reasons for not accessing medical care and methods of self-treatment.

RESULTS

Of study participants, 162 (64%) reported having at least one SSTI in the past year. This subset was 59.9% White/Caucasian with a mean age of 38.0 (SD + 10.5). One-third of these participants (32.3%) reported ever self-treating SSTI in the past year. In a logistic regression model, number of past-year infections (OR = 1.81, p < .001) and positive outlook (OR = 2.46, p < .001) were associated with self-treatment of SSTI. Common methods of self-treatment included mechanically draining sores, applying heat/warm compress, and cleaning affected areas. Continued drug use and belief that infections were not serious and could be self-treated were two main reasons for not seeking professional medical care.

CONCLUSIONS

Interventions targeting SSTI among PWID should include education on when to seek medical care and the risks of serious infection, and could be implemented at local clinics or harm reduction programs to increase access.

What Twitter teaches us about patient-provider communication on pain

The objective of this study was to understand how pain patients and health care providers (HCPs) are engaging on Twitter and what insights this engagement might provide. By identifying how information is spread by and between these audiences, organizations such as patient advocacy groups may be better poised to develop and share materials that facilitate online communication between HCPs and pain patients, with an end goal of improving a shared decision-making process around pain management. We analyzed the Twitter audiences most engaged on pain topics by conducting a Social Network Analysis (SNA) of a large network of connected users on Twitter. The analysis segmented users based on the sources they cited and measured their influence based on who follows them. As a point of comparison, we also conducted an SNA of Twitter audiences most engaged on oncology topics. Oncology was chosen as a comparison due to what was perceived to be a highly developed online network of both patients and physicians. The populations included in this research included 12,086 accounts that were highly engaged on pain-related topics, and 12,617 accounts that were highly engaged on oncology-related topics. Network statistics were generated for variables including: word use, sources cited, retweets, and mentions. We also statistically analyzed the Twitter follow relationships among select HCPs and patient groups within each SNA. The creation of separate pain and oncology SNAs allowed the team to compare relationships and engagement related to these topics. We found that on Twitter, pain patients and providers appear to interact less than oncology patients and providers. Pain patients do not appear to follow medical professionals or share medical or health-related information on Twitter to the same extent as oncology patients. In addition, we found that pain patients do not communicate on Twitter in the same language as HCPs. Our results are important because they underscore that challenges in communication are not just problematic in face-to-face interactions, but also in digital social network (Twitter) interactions, serving as an additional roadblock to what can be shared decision-making opportunities around pain management. Contributing to this roadblock is access to quality information and a potential need for an online, evidence-based resource hub that could benefit the pain patient community in the same way that cancer.gov serves as a source of aggregated materials for oncology patients and HCPs. This study is an illustration of how social media networks like Twitter can be used to better understand the relationships, language gaps, and shared resources between pain patients and providers and offers a template for using digital social network (Twitter) interactions to research other difficult-to-treat or rare disease states.

Beyond Prescriptions Monitoring Programs: The Importance of Having the Conversation about Benzodiazepine Use

: Internationally there is an escalation of prescription-related overdose deaths, particularly related to benzodiazepine use. As a result, many countries have implemented prescription monitoring programs (PMPs) to increase the regulation of benzodiazepine medications. PMPs centralize prescription data for prescribers and pharmacists and generate alerts to high-doses, risky combinations, or multiple prescribers with the aim to reduce inappropriate prescribing and subsequently the potential of patient harm. However, it has become clear that prescribers have been provided with minimal guidance and insufficient training to effectively integrate PMP information into their decision making around prescribing these medications. Accordingly, this paper discusses how PMPs have given rise to a range of unintended consequences in those who have been prescribed benzodiazepines (BDZs). Given that a gradual taper is generally required to mitigate withdrawal from BDZs, there are concerns that alerts from PMPs have resulted in BDZs being ceased abruptly, resulting in a range of unintended harms to patients. It is argued that best practice guidelines based upon a patient-centered framework of decision-making, need to be developed and implemented, in order to curtail the unintended consequences of PMPs. This paper outlines some key considerations when starting the conversation with patients about their BDZ use.