Patients' Experience With Opioid Tapering: A Conceptual Model With Recommendations for Clinicians.

ABSTRACT: Clinical guidelines discourage prescribing opioids for chronic pain, but give minimal advice about how to discuss opioid tapering with patients. We conducted focus groups and interviews involving 21 adults with chronic back or neck pain in different stages of opioid tapering. Transcripts were qualitatively analyzed to characterize patients' tapering experiences, build a conceptual model of these experiences, and identify strategies for promoting productive discussions of opioid tapering. Analyses revealed 3 major themes. First, owing to dynamic changes in patients' social relationships, emotional state, and health status, patients' pain and their perceived need for opioids fluctuate daily; this finding may conflict with recommendations to taper by a certain amount each month. Second, taper

SUBMITTER: Henry SG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6349552 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature