TY  - JOUR
AU  - Elphinston, Rachel A
AU  - Pager, Sue
AU  - Brown, Kelly
AU  - Sterling, Michele
AU  - Fatehi, Farhad
AU  - Gray, Paul
AU  - Hipper, Linda
AU  - Cahill, Lauren
AU  - Connor, Jason P.
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/1/30
TI  - Co-Designing a Digital Brief Intervention to Reduce the Risk of Prescription Opioid–Related Harm Among People With Chronic Noncancer Pain: Qualitative Analysis of Patient Lived Experiences
JO  - JMIR Form Res
SP  - e57208
VL  - 9
KW  - chronic noncancer pain
KW  - prescription opioid use
KW  - brief intervention
KW  - co-design
KW  - patient partners
KW  - lived experience
KW  - qualitative
KW  - digital health
AB  - Background: Opioid medications are important for pain management, but many patients progress to unsafe medication use. With few personalized and accessible behavioral treatment options to reduce potential opioid-related harm, new and innovative patient-centered approaches are urgently needed to fill this gap. Objective: This study involved the first phase of co-designing a digital brief intervention to reduce the risk of opioid-related harm by investigating the lived experience of chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) in treatment-seeking patients, with a particular focus on opioid therapy experiences. Methods: Eligible patients were those aged between 18 and 70 years with CNCP at a clinically significant level of intensity (a score of ≥4 of 10). Purposive sampling was used to engage patients on public hospital waitlists via mail or through the treating medical specialist. Participants (N=18; n=10 women; mean age 49.5 years, SD 11.50) completed semistructured telephone interviews. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, thematically analyzed using grounded theory, and member checked by patients. Results: Eight overarching themes were found, listed in the order of their prominence from most to least prominent: limited treatment collaboration and partnership; limited biopsychosocial understanding of pain; continued opioid use when benefits do not outweigh harms; a trial-and-error approach to opioid use; cycles of hopefulness and hopelessness; diagnostic uncertainty; significant negative impacts tied to loss; and complexity of pain and opioid use journeys. Conclusions: The findings of this study advance progress in co-designing digital brief interventions by actively engaging patient partners in their lived experiences of chronic pain and use of prescription opioid medications. The key recommendations proposed should guide the development of personalized solutions to address the complex care needs of patients with CNCP. 
SN  - 2561-326X
UR  - https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e57208
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/57208
DO  - 10.2196/57208
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/57208
ER  -