CRediT contribution statement
Ruaraidh Hill (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2801-0505): Conceptualisation (lead), Investigation (equal), Formal analysis (equal), Funding acquisition (lead), Investigation (lead), Methodology (lead), Supervision (equal), Writing – reviewing and editing (lead).
Michelle Maden (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4419-6343): Conceptualisation (equal), Investigation (lead), Data curation (lead), Formal analysis (equal), Funding acquisition (supporting), Methodology (equal), Supervision (equal), Writing – original draft (lead), Writing – reviewing and editing (equal).
Rui Duarte (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6485-7415): Conceptualisation (equal), Funding acquisition (equal), Investigation (equal), Data curation (supporting), Formal analysis (supporting), Methodology (supporting), Supervision (equal), Writing – original draft (supporting), Writing – reviewing and editing (supporting).
Sam Eldabe (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9250-1886): Conceptualisation (supporting), Formal analysis (supporting).
Su Golder (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8987-5211): Methodology (equal).
Marty Chaplin (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7097-8704): Data curation (supporting), Formal analysis (supporting), Writing – original draft (supporting).
Beth Shaw (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4693-9956): Conceptualisation (supporting), Investigation (supporting), Formal analysis (supporting), Methodology (equal), Writing – original draft (supporting).
Katy Sutcliffe (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5469-8649): Methodology (equal), Formal analysis (supporting), Writing – original draft (supporting).
Adam Todd (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1496-9341): Conceptualisation (supporting), Formal analysis (supporting).
Rebecca Bresnahan (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5578-1535): Data curation (supporting), Investigation (equal), Formal analysis (supporting), Writing – original draft (supporting).
Katherine Edwards (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1092-0092): Investigation (equal), Data curation (supporting), Formal analysis (supporting). Writing – original draft (supporting).
Janette Greenhalgh (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4812-1904): Investigation (equal), Data curation (supporting), Writing – original draft (supporting).
Juliet Hounsome (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2026-3778): Investigation (lead), Data curation (lead), Formal analysis (equal), Writing – original writing (equal).
Jack Trafford (https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3904-2165): Data curation (supporting).
Nefyn Williams (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8078-409X): Conceptualisation (equal), Investigation (equal), Data curation (supporting), Formal analysis (supporting), Methodology (equal), Writing – original draft (supporting).
Acknowledgements
The principal investigator (Dr Ruaraidh Hill) thanks the research team for applying their expertise and for their consistent commitment to this project. The research team are grateful to the following people for their important contributions: We thank our expert advisory panel for excellent support to the early development of this project. Carmen Smith for patient advisory support to initial stages of this project. Our stakeholders, who offered insight to completeness and usefulness of the report findings and to Katherine Cowan (Katherine Cowan Consulting Ltd) for facilitating our stakeholder engagement. Drs Angela Boland (University of Liverpool) and Sophie Beale (Hare Research) for editorial support. Lisa Jones (Liverpool John Moores University) for extensive proof reading and quality assurance activities in the editorial phase.
Data-sharing statement
Due to the nature of this study and the type of data collected, there are a limited number of data that can be shared further. All requests on search results and the libraries screened in the systematic review platform are available on request and should be submitted to the corresponding author for consideration.
Ethics statement
The research did not require ethical approval as it was wholly secondary research using existing reports both published and unpublished.
Information governance statement
University of Liverpool is committed to handling all personal information in line with the UK Data Protection Act (2018) and the General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) 2016/679. Under the Data Protection legislation, University of Liverpool is the Data Controller, and you can find out more about how we handle personal data, including how to exercise your individual rights and the contact details for our Data Protection Officer here www.liverpool.ac.uk/policy-centre/governance/ and here www.liverpool.ac.uk/it/records-management/information-management-policy/
Disclosure of interests
Full disclosure of interests: Completed ICMJE forms for all authors, including all related interests, are available in the toolkit on the NIHR Journals Library report publication page at https://doi.org/10.3310/GDWP3572.
Primary conflicts of interest: Nefyn Williams – Deputy chair of NIHR HTA Funding Committee (Commissioned Research) 1 November 2022 to 31 October 2025.
Adam Todd – NIHR HTA Prioritisation Committee A (out of hospital) 1 March 2020–31 February 2024.
Disclaimer
Every effort has been made to obtain the necessary permissions for reproduction, to credit original sources appropriately and to respect copyright requirements. However, despite our diligence, we acknowledge the possibility of unintentional omissions or errors and we welcome notifications of any concerns regarding copyright or permissions.
Publications
Bresnahan R, Hill R, Maden M, Duarte R, Eldabe S, Golder S, et al. WE688 Safe and Effective Reduction of Opioids in Chronic Non-cancer Pain: A Systematic Review of Effects. IASP 2024 World Congress on Pain, August 2024, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2024.
Bresnahan R, Maden M, Hill R, Duarte R, Eldabe S, Golder S, et al. WE688 WE709 Tapering Opioids in Chronic Non-cancer Pain: A Systematic Review of Barriers and Facilitators. IASP 2024 World Congress on Pain, August 2024, Amsterdam, Netherlands. 2024.
Disclaimers
This article presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The views and opinions expressed by authors in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NHS, the NIHR, the HTA programme or the Department of Health and Social Care. If there are verbatim quotations included in this publication the views and opinions expressed by the interviewees are those of the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect those of the authors, those of the NHS, the NIHR, the HTA programme or the Department of Health and Social Care.