“I don’t tell anyone I have them”: Experiences with opioid stigma from the perspective of survivors living with chronic cancer-related pain and clinicians that care for them.
The aim of this qualitative study, part of CTN-0115 (Developing an Intervention to Address Intersecting Prescription Opioid and Chronic Pain Stigma in Cancer Survivors), was to characterize opioid stigma in cancer remission using the Opioid Stigma Framework as a grounding theoretical framework.
Researchers conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with cancer survivors in remission who are currently or were previously prescribed opioids for moderate-to-severe pain related to their cancer diagnosis (n=17) and clinicians who routinely treat chronic cancer-related pain (n=20). Interviews occurred at a single institution from 05/2021-12/2021. The primary focus of this analysis was to describe perceived stigma from a patient perspective, as relayed by either survivors or treating clinicians.
Survivors and clinicians perceived externalized stigma in a variety of healthcare settings, sometimes influenced by survivors’ sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., race). Survivors and clinicians also reported stigmatizing behaviors from a variety of personal relationships, including family and community members, which then impacted decisions around prescription opioid use. Finally, survivors and clinicians described a pervasive sense of internalized stigma related to prescription opioid use in survivorship, including shame, embarrassment, and fear of addiction. Survivors and clinicians also reflected on known disparities in pain management, which in turn may have influenced experiences with opioid stigma.
This research extends the Opioid Stigma Framework’s concepts — previously described in patients with active cancer — to opioid stigma in cancer survivors. Given the frequency of opioid prescribing across the cancer continuum, it is crucial to develop targeted and tailored interventions to de-stigmatize clinical care and improve safe, effective chronic cancer pain management.
Related protocols: CTN-0115