Publication

Barriers to opioid use disorder treatment: A comparison of self-reported information from social media with barriers found in literature

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Last modified
  • 07/03/2025
Type of Material
Authors
    Whitney Bremer, Emory UniversityKarma Plaisance, Emory UniversityDrew Walker, Emory UniversityMatthew Bonn, Canadian Association of People Who Use DrugsJennifer S. Love, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiJeanmarie Perrone, University of PennsylvaniaAbeed Sarker, Emory University
Language
  • English
Date
  • 2023-01-01
Publisher
  • Frontiers
Publication Version
Copyright Statement
  • © 2023 Bremer, Plaisance, Walker, Bonn, Love, Perrone and Sarker.
License
Final Published Version (URL)
Title of Journal or Parent Work
Volume
  • 11
Start Page
  • 1141093
End Page
  • 1141093
Grant/Funding Information
  • Research reported in this publication is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the award number R01DA057599. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
Abstract
  • Introduction: Medications such as buprenorphine and methadone are effective for treating opioid use disorder (OUD), but many patients face barriers related to treatment and access. We analyzed two sources of data—social media and published literature—to categorize and quantify such barriers. Methods: In this mixed methods study, we analyzed social media (Reddit) posts from three OUD-related forums (subreddits): r/suboxone, r/Methadone, and r/naltrexone. We applied natural language processing to identify posts relevant to treatment barriers, categorized them into insurance- and non-insurance-related, and manually subcategorized them into fine-grained topics. For comparison, we used substance use-, OUD- and barrier-related keywords to identify relevant articles from PubMed published between 2006 and 2022. We searched publications for language expressing fear of barriers, and hesitation or disinterest in medication treatment because of barriers, paying particular attention to the affected population groups described. Results: On social media, the top three insurance-related barriers included having no insurance (22.5%), insurance not covering OUD treatment (24.7%), and general difficulties of using insurance for OUD treatment (38.2%); while the top two non-insurance-related barriers included stigma (47.6%), and financial difficulties (26.2%). For published literature, stigma was the most prominently reported barrier, occurring in 78.9% of the publications reviewed, followed by financial and/or logistical issues to receiving medication treatment (73.7%), gender-specific barriers (36.8%), and fear (31.5%). Conclusion: The stigma associated with OUD and/or seeking treatment and insurance/cost are the two most common types of barriers reported in the two sources combined. Harm reduction efforts addressing barriers to recovery may benefit from leveraging multiple data sources.
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Keywords
Research Categories
  • Chemistry, Pharmaceutical
  • Health Sciences, Public Health

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