Pain & Non-medical Opioid Use (ECHO-PANO) Research

Non-medical opioid use (NMOU) occurs when patients receiving opioids for cancer pain use it for reasons other than prescribed and is characterized by behaviors such as excessive, unjustifiable use of opioids or self-escalation of opioid dosage. It is a common complication of chronic opioid therapy which can amplify pain expression, worsen symptom burden, increase opioid-related morbidity and mortality, jeopardize the patient-provider therapeutic alliance, and increase provider burn out. It is also a key contributor to the opioid crisis and a major clinical and public health issue which has only worsened since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, clinical research in this important area of medicine is very limited and only few high-quality research has been conducted on NMOU. This is due to a combination of insufficient knowledge and a lack of researchers trained with the necessary skills for NMOU research. We will focus on filling this knowledge gap by educating and providing training researchers on how to conduct NMOU research.

This clinic brings together pain and opioid researchers in the state of Texas with a particular focus on non-medical opioid use (NMOU). The aim is to collectively learn how to conduct high quality research in this exciting field. Experienced researchers in the field will be available to provide the much needed telementoring and guidance for young and upcoming researchers. The goal is to foster collaboration and comradeship amongst pain and opioid researchers within the state of Texas.