Health-related quality of life and stigma in opioid dependence: Comparison between buprenorphine users and non-users

Opioid dependence leads to reduced quality of life (QOL) and stigma. There is scarcity of literature on impact of buprenorphine on QOL of patients with opioid dependence from India. This study reports QOL and stigma in patients taking buprenorphine and compare it with those who were not on any treatment.

A cross-sectional, descriptive, comparative study was conducted among three groups (n = 100 each). Group 3 comprised patients who were already taking buprenorphine for at least 3 months from a government outpatient opioid-assisted treatment center. Group 2 comprised patients who were not on any treatment but had come to enrol in buprenorphine treatment and Group 1 comprised patients who had come to get some other treatment and were not willing for buprenorphine. After fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria, sociodemographic pro forma, Hindi self-stigma scale, and World Health Organization QOL-BREF Hindi were applied. Appropriate statistical analyses were done.

Patients already taking buprenorphine had significantly better QOL and it improved as the duration of treatment increased. Patients on buprenorphine treatment had significantly lesser stigma than patients not already on treatment. Stigma negatively impacted QOL in the three groups.

QOL and factors affecting it should be an integral part of management of opioid dependence. Efforts should be made to enrol maximum number of patients in treatment to enhance their quality of life and reduce stigma.