Demographic and Substance Use Characteristics of Safety-Net Patients on or Recently on Long-Term Opioid Therapy for Chronic Noncancer Pain, by Level of Satisfaction with Pain Treatment*
| Characteristic, Median (IQR) or N (%) | All Participants (n = 300) | Low Satisfaction (n = 116) | Moderate Satisfaction (n = 85) | High Satisfaction (n = 98) | P Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | 57.5 (±8.1) | 56.9 (9.1) | 57.6 (7.9) | 58.1 (7.2) | 0.57 |
| Gender | |||||
| Cisgender female | 101 (34%) | 52 (51%) | 25 (25%) | 24 (24%) | 0.002 |
| Cisgender male | 182 (60%) | 63 (35%) | 54 (30%) | 64 (35%) | |
| Gender minority person | 17 (6%) | 1 (6%) | 6 (35%) | 10 (59%) | |
| Race/ethnicity† | |||||
| Non-Hispanic White | 95 (32%) | 34 (36%) | 28 (30%) | 32 (34%) | 0.26 |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 131 (44%) | 55 (42.0%) | 36 (28%) | 40 (31%) | |
| Hispanic/Latinx | 33 (11%) | 17 (52%) | 5 (15%) | 11 (33%) | |
| Mixed or other | 40 (13%) | 10 (24%) | 15 (38%) | 15 (37%) | |
| Education | |||||
| Some high school or less | 74 (25%) | 27 (37%) | 21 (29%) | 25 (34%) | 0.95 |
| GED/some college | 169 (56%) | 66 (39%) | 50 (30%) | 53 (31%) | |
| Vocational training/college or higher | 57 (19%) | 23 (40%) | 14 (25%) | 20 (35%) | |
| Income† | |||||
| < $9999 | 56 (19%) | 22 (39%) | 18 (32%) | 16 (29%) | 0.93 |
| $10,000-$19,999 | 193 (65%) | 75 (39%) | 52 (27%) | 66 (34%) | |
| >$20,000 | 49 (16%) | 18 (38%) | 14 (29%) | 16 (33%) | |
| Comorbidities | |||||
| Ever homeless | 230 (77%) | 93 (41%) | 69 (30%) | 67 (29%) | 0.06 |
| HIV positive | 105 (35%) | 32 (31%) | 30 (29%) | 43 (41%) | 0.05 |
| History of hepatitis C infection | 151 (50%) | 60 (40%) | 46 (31%) | 44 (29%) | 0.42 |
| Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) score ≥63‡ | 83 (28%) | 36 (43%) | 29 (35%) | 18 (22%) | 0.006 |
| Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) Depression Scale ≥10 | 83 (28%) | 38 (46%) | 28 (34%) | 17 (21%) | 0.02 |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder screen ≥3 | 99 (33%) | 45 (46%) | 31 (32%) | 22 (23%) | 0.03 |
| Mini-physical performance test (mPPT) ≤11§ | 145 (52%) | 60 (41%) | 41 (28%) | 44 (30%) | 0.72 |
| Self-reported substance use in past year‖ | |||||
| No drugs, alcohol, or tobacco | 66 (22%) | 21 (32%) | 16 (24%) | 29 (44%) | 0.09 |
| Alcohol | 154 (51%) | 61 (40%) | 48 (31%) | 44 (29%) | 0.27 |
| Tobacco | 169 (56%) | 74 (44%) | 50 (30%) | 44 (26%) | 0.02 |
| Any illicit substances | 121 (40%) | 52 (43%) | 34 (28%) | 35 (29%) | 0.40 |
| - Heroin | 51 (17%) | 25 (49%) | 12 (24%) | 14 (28%) | 0.26 |
| - Methamphetamine or speed | 66 (22%) | 28 (42%) | 21 (32%) | 17 (26%) | 0.39 |
| - Cocaine or crack cocaine | 72 (24%) | 34 (47%) | 21 (29%) | 17 (24%) | 0.12 |
| - Other¶ | 18 (6%) | 7 (39%) | 5 (28%) | 6 (33%) | 0.99 |
| History of substance use treatment | 203 (68%) | 79 (39%) | 58 (29%) | 65 (32%) | 0.95 |
| History of prior overdose | 56 (19%) | 27 (48%) | 13 (23%) | 16 (29%) | 0.27 |
IQR, interquartile range.
↵* One participant did not respond to the pain treatment satisfaction question.
↵† One participant declined to state their race, and two participants declined to state their income.
↵‡ BSI scores only interpretable for 282 cisgender participants and considered positive if either global score or two subscale scores were ≥63.
↵§ mPPT scores were conducted in 277 participants at baseline. We used a cut-off score of 11 or lower as evidence of functional impairment.
↵‖ Measure does not include cannabis use.
↵¶ Other substances including inhalants or hallucinogens.