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Author Notes:

Babak Tofighi, MD, MSc, 180 Madison, New York, NY 10016, USA. Email: babak.tofighi@nyumc.org

Subject:

Research Funding:

This study was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (K23DA042140-01A1).

Keywords:

  • Science & Technology
  • Life Sciences & Biomedicine
  • Substance Abuse
  • Opioid use disorder
  • social media
  • twitter
  • medications for opioid use disorder
  • naloxone
  • buprenorphine-naloxone
  • extended-release naltrexone
  • AGREEMENT

Assessing perceptions about medications for opioid use disorder and Naloxone on Twitter

Tools:

Journal Title:

JOURNAL OF ADDICTIVE DISEASES

Volume:

Volume 39, Number 1

Publisher:

, Pages 37-45

Type of Work:

Article | Post-print: After Peer Review

Abstract:

Introduction: Qualitative analysis of Twitter posts reveals key insights about user norms, informedness, perceptions, and experiences related to opioid use disorder (OUD). This paper characterizes Twitter message content pertaining to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and Naloxone. Methods: In-depth thematic analysis was conducted of 1,010 Twitter messages collected in June 2019. Our primary aim was to identify user perceptions and experiences related to harm reduction (e.g., Naloxone) and MOUD (e.g., sublingual and Extended-release buprenorphine, Extended-release naltrexone, Methadone). Results: Tweets relating to OUD were most commonly authored by general Twitter users (43.8%), private residential or detoxification programs (24.6%), healthcare providers (e.g., physicians, first responders; 4.3%), PWUOs (4.7%) and their caregivers (2.9%). Naloxone was mentioned in 23.8% of posts and authored most commonly by general users (52.9%), public health experts (7.4%), and nonprofit/advocacy organizations (6.6%). Sentiment was mostly positive about Naloxone (73.6%). Commonly mentioned MOUDs in our search consisted of Buprenorphine-naloxone (13.8%), Methadone (5.7%), Extended-release naltrexone (4.1%), and Extended-release buprenorphine (0.01%). Tweets authored by PWUOs (4.7%) most commonly related to factors influencing access to MOUD or adverse events related to MOUD (70.8%), negative or positive experiences with illicit substance use (25%), policies related to expanding access to treatments for OUD (8.3%), and stigma experienced by healthcare providers (8.3%). Conclusion: Twitter is utilized by a diverse array of individuals, including PWUOs, and offers an innovative approach to evaluate experiences and themes related to illicit opioid use, MOUD, and harm reduction.

Copyright information:

This is an Open Access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/rdf).
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