# Developing an intervention to address intersecting prescription opioid and chronic pain stigma in cancer survivors: formative work

> **NIH NIH UG1** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2020 · $155,077

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment have allowed individuals with cancer to survive their disease at high
rates. However, survivorship is often accompanied by challenging long-term sequelae such as chronic cancer
pain. Though prescription opioids are often prescribed during active treatment, the role of prescription opioids in
chronic cancer pain management is less clear. There is little literature as to the safety and efficacy of opioids in
this population, so survivors and their clinicians are stuck between two worlds – cancer pain, in which opioids are
standard of care, and chronic pain, in which long-term opioids are known to carry significant risk including opioid
misuse, addiction, and death. This challenge is particularly impactful in the mist of the opioid epidemic, in which
negative public attitudes towards prescription opioids are prevalent. As a result, cancer survivors with chronic
pain may be at particularly high risk for stigmatization, a detrimental phenomenon associated with adverse health
outcomes (e.g., emotional distress, suboptimal health behaviors and coping strategies, difficult patient-provider
communication). We posit that prescription opioid use and chronic pain are two important sources of intersecting
stigma in cancer patients. Prescription opioid stigma and chronic pain stigma have been explored separately in
other patient groups; however, there is little literature that directly explores these intersecting stigmas in cancer
survivors. As the population of cancer survivors on long-term opioid therapy continues to increase, understanding
stigma experiences in this group is a time-sensitive, critical need. Consistent with the NIH Helping to End
Addiction Long-term (HEAL) initiative’s key priority of enhancing pain management, the aim of this proposal is to
obtain a comprehensive understanding of co-occurring prescription opioid and chronic pain stigmas in cancer
survivors with chronic pain. The results of this study will support the development of a future multi-level
behavioral intervention to mitigate the impact of stigma and improve pain management in this population.
Guided by the Health Stigma and Discrimination Framework, we will conduct in-depth qualitative interviews
exploring prescription opioid and chronic pain stigma in 20 cancer survivors with moderate-to-severe pain, 20
caregivers, and 20 clinicians who treat patients with chronic cancer pain, including oncologists, primary care
providers, pain management specialists, and palliative care physicians. We will conduct thematic analysis to
identify potential contributors to stigma in cancer survivors, with an emphasis on potential targets of future
interventions, and explore proximal and long-term health outcomes. This proposal is innovative and timely, as we
are among the first to advance a comprehensive understanding of intersecting prescription opioid and chronic
pain stigma in cancer survivors. We will use this evidence to dev...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10173220
- **Project number:** 3UG1DA049436-02S2
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** JUDITH FEINBERG
- **Activity code:** UG1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $155,077
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-06-01 → 2021-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10173220

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10173220, Developing an intervention to address intersecting prescription opioid and chronic pain stigma in cancer survivors: formative work (3UG1DA049436-02S2). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10173220. Licensed CC0.

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