Exploring perspectives on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in people who smoke heroin: a qualitative study

Smoking rather than injecting heroin has become more common over the last 20 years. Although there is an increasing body of evidence describing high levels of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in people who smoke heroin, there is limited evidence documenting the impact of the long-term condition on this population group.

This study aimed to describe the experiences of people who smoke heroin with COPD in Liverpool, UK.

Participants were purposefully sampled for this qualitative study. They included adults enrolled in an opioid replacement clinic run by Addaction in Liverpool, who had already engaged with spirometry testing for COPD as part of a previous study.

Semi-structured interviews were performed with participants with spirometrically confirmed COPD in opioid replacement clinics. Data were analysed using a framework analysis approach.

Sixteen potential participants were invited to take part in the study, of which 10 agreed and were interviewed. Three themes common to all interviews were identified: functional measures of lung health that impacted on their activities of daily living; inhaler and medication perceptions with erratic use that was not concordant with their prescription; and the impact of difficulties accessing care.

These findings, along with previous studies highlighting the prevalence of COPD in this population, warrant efforts to integrate community COPD and opioid replacement services to improve outcomes for this vulnerable population.