A fine understanding of the attitudes and beliefs about pain and its management for patients with opioid use disorder is currently lacking. These psychological aspects of pain and analgesia are expected to have significant effects on nociception, pain experience, analgesic efficacy, and opioid requirements and its subsequent risks for relapse/treatment noncompliance. There is also have little understanding of provider-held attitudes and beliefs which can influence pain and its treatment for this population.
The findings from this study will inform patient-centered approaches to pain management for obstetric patients with OUD. They will also shape an appropriate patient-centered research agenda for obstetric pain management in patients with OUD. This work will find new patient-centered endpoints for this special population that may be currently overlooked with existing standard pain assessments.
