Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 6, 2025

Investigating Drivers of Antireward in Addiction Behavior with Anatomically Specific Single-Cell Gene Expression Methods
Published on: August 4, 2022
Patients' Perspectives on Coming Off Opioid Agonist Treatment: A Qualitative Study
Christina Nehlin1,2, Josefin Bäckström1,2, Charlotte Wollert Brander1,2
1Department of Medical Sciences, Psychiatry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Aims:
Opioid agonist treatment (OAT) programs are life-saving, as they reduce opioid use, overdoses, and criminal activities. Disadvantages reported with long-term OAT include side effects of the medication, especially on cognitive ability and sexual function, which may discourage potential participants. Many of those who participate in OAT have a desire to come off treatment. The aims of this study were to explore patients' thoughts about coming off OAT and to investigate their perceptions of what support they would need in order to realize a planned withdrawal from OAT.
Methods:
A qualitative interview study with semi-structured interviews, using applied thematic analysis. Persons with experiences of participating in OAT were invited from Swedish programs and a private Facebook community.
Results:
Fifteen persons, with a mean of 9.6 (±6.4) years of treatment experience, were included. The participants underlined the need for a patient-centered focus within the treatment. They wanted to be regarded as capable of deciding if, when, and how a planned ending was to take place. They also called for staff to be supportive in making such decisions. Participants recommended staff to be sensitive to the needs of the specific patient and to have strategies for coming off OAT that could be adjusted for the single person.
Conclusions:
OAT programs need to be continually updated and adapted to the persons who can benefit from them. Applying a person-centered, holistic perspective would enhance the quality of the treatment by emanating from individual goals. Regulatory guidelines need to take into account research on patient experiences and perspectives on coming off.
More Related Videos
08:05A Procedure to Study Stress-Induced Relapse of Heroin Seeking after Punishment-Imposed Abstinence
Published on: March 23, 2022
09:54Combining Laser Capture Microdissection and Microfluidic qPCR to Analyze Transcriptional Profiles of Single Cells: A Systems Biology Approach to Opioid Dependence
Published on: March 8, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Analgesia and Pain Management
Opioid Analgesics: Synthetic and Semisynthetic Opioids
Opioid Analgesics: Morphine and Other Natural Cogeners
Opioid Receptors: Overview
Drug Dependence
Classification of Illness
An illness is a response to a disease in which the person's level of functioning is changed compared with a previous level. The general classification of illness includes acute and chronic.
Acute illness is severe...