Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government

VA Health Systems Research

Go to the VA ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

HSR Citation Abstract

Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title

"I Was a Little Surprised": Qualitative Insights From Patients Enrolled in a 12-Month Trial Comparing Opioids With Nonopioid Medications for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain.

Matthias MS, Donaldson MT, Jensen AC, Krebs EE. "I Was a Little Surprised": Qualitative Insights From Patients Enrolled in a 12-Month Trial Comparing Opioids With Nonopioid Medications for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain. The journal of pain : official journal of the American Pain Society. 2018 Sep 1; 19(9):1082-1090.

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.
   Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions



Abstract:

Chronic musculoskeletal pain is a major public health problem. Although opioid prescribing for chronic pain has increased dramatically since the 1990s, this practice has come under scrutiny because of increases in opioid-related harms and lack of evidence for long-term effectiveness. The Strategies for Prescribing Analgesics Comparative Effectiveness (SPACE) trial was a pragmatic 12-month randomized trial comparing the benefits and harms of opioid versus nonopioid medications for chronic musculoskeletal pain. The current qualitative study was designed to better understand trial results by exploring patients'' experiences, including perceptions of medications, experiences with the intervention, and whether expectations were met. Thirty-four participants who were purposefully sampled based on treatment group and intervention response participated in semistructured interviews. The constant comparison method guided analysis. Results revealed that participants often held strong beliefs about opioid medications, which sometimes changed during the trial as they gained experience with medications; participants described a wide variety of experiences with treatment effectiveness, regardless of study group or their response to the intervention; and participants highly valued the personalized pain care model used in SPACE. PERSPECTIVE: SPACE trial results indicated no advantage for opioid over nonopioid medications. Qualitative findings suggest that, for both treatment groups, preexisting expectations and anticipated improvement in pain shaped experiences with and responses to medications. The personalized pain care model was described as contributing to positive outcomes in both groups.





Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.