Does a Survivorship Model of Opioid Use Disorder Improve Public Stigma or Policy Support? A General Population Randomized Experiment

Background: The chronic disease model of opioid use disorder (OUD) is promoted by many public health authorities, yet high levels of stigma persist along with low support for policies that would benefit people with OUD. Objective: Determine if a survivorship model of OUD, which does not imply a chronic, relapsing disease state, compared to a chronic disease model improves public stigma and support for opioid-related policies. Explore if race or gender moderates any effect. Design: Online, vignette-based randomized study. Participants: US adults recruited through a market research firm. Intervention: Participants viewed one of 8 vignettes depicting a person with OUD in sustained remission. Vignettes varied in terms of the OUD model (survivorship, chronic disease) and vignette individual’s race (Black, White) and gender (man, woman). Main Measures: (1) Public stigma measured by desire for social distance, perceptions of dangerousness, and overall feelings toward the vignette individual. (2) Support for 7 opioid-related policies. Overall feelings were measured on a feelings thermometer (0/cold–100/warm). Stigma and policy support responses were measured on Likert scales dichotomized to indicate a positive (4, 5) or negative/indifferent (1–3) response. Key Results: Of 1440 potential participants, 1172 (81%) were included in the analysis. Exposure to the survivorship model resulted in warmer feelings (mean 72, SD 23) compared to the chronic disease (mean 67, SD 23; difference 4, 95%CI 1–6). There was no effect modification from the vignette individual’s race or gender. There was no significant difference between OUD models on other measures of public stigma or support for policies. Conclusions: The survivorship model of OUD improved overall feelings compared to the chronic disease model, but we did not detect an effect of this model on other domains of public stigma or support for policies. Further refinement and testing of this novel, survivorship model of OUD could improve public opinions.