Exploring profile, effects and toxicity of novel synthetic opioids and classical opioids via Twitter: A qualitative study

Background and aims

Novel synthetic opioids’ use has been increasing over the last decade and the opioid epidemic has attributed to 70 % of drug-related deaths worldwide. Lately, Twitter has become one of the key social media platforms where the public express their unfiltered and honest views and opinions anonymously and freely.

Methodology

This research comprised a qualitative study that explored the motivations, effects and toxicity of novel synthetic opioids from the perspectives of Tweeters. Tweets were extracted using NVivo 12 Pro by using the Chrome NCapture where thematic content analysis was applied. Extracted data from relevant tweets were coded into subthemes and themes.

Findings

Five main themes were found related to uses of opioids; public knowledge and attitude, desired effects, adverse events, and harm reduction strategies. For public knowledge and attitude, users reported about sources of opioids, as well as purity, addiction potential and lethal effects. The main uses of opioids included self-medication and for recreational purposes. For self-medications, users sought opioids against anxiety, depression, pain, and overcoming a previous opioid addiction. However, adverse events related to opioid use surpassed the desired effects and were: psychosis, addiction, withdrawal, respiratory depression and lethal effects. Most of the adverse events were linked to novel opioids rather than classical ones.

Conclusions

Twitter provided a valuable source of information regarding opioids’ modalities of use, desired effects and adverse events. These findings benefit practitioners and healthcare professionals dealing with opioid users.