What's in a Name? Terminology Preferences Among Patients Receiving Methadone Treatment.

BACKGROUND

Despite recognition of the importance of substance use disorder (SUD) terminology, few studies examine terminology preferences among patients with SUDs.

OBJECTIVE

To examine preferences of patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) concerning the terminology used by addiction counselors.

DESIGN

From January 1, 2019, to February 28, 2020, participants were recruited consecutively from 30-day treatment review sessions at outpatient methadone treatment programs in the Northeastern United States to complete a cross-sectional survey.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants were English-speaking adult patients with OUD enrolled in methadone treatment.

MAIN MEASURES: Participants completed 7-point Likert-type scales from 1 ("Strongly Disagree") to 7 ("Strongly Agree") to rate their preferences for (a) the presenting problem, (b) collective nouns referring to those with the presenting problem, and (c) personal descriptors. We used univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to examine the associations between demographics (i.e., age, sex, and race) and terminology preferences and ordinal logit regression to explore the association between 12-step program partiality and preference for the term "addict."

KEY

RESULTS

We surveyed 450 patients with mean age of 38.5 (SD = 11.1) years; 59.6% self-identified as male, 77.6% as White, and 12.7% as Hispanic. The highest-rated preferences for presenting problem were "addiction," "substance use," and "substance abuse." The highest-rated collective noun terms were "client," "patient," and "guest." "Person with an addiction," "person with substance use disorder," and "substance-dependent person" were the highest-rated personal descriptors. There were significant differences in terminological preference based on race and age. Twelve-step program partiality was associated with greater preference for the term "addict" (F = 21.22, p < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Terminology preferences among people receiving methadone treatment aligned with existing guidelines recommending that clinicians use medically accurate and destigmatizing terminology when referring to substance use disorders and the persons who have them. Demographic differences emerged in terminological preferences, warranting further examination.