• Marina Gaeta Gazzola, Emma Maclean, Mark Beitel, Iain D Carmichael, Katharine M Cammack, Kathryn F Eggert, Teresa Roehrich, Lynn M Madden, Oluwole Jegede, Xiaoying Zheng, Emma Bergman, and Declan T Barry.
• Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2023 Feb 1; 38 (3): 653660653-660.

BackgroundDespite recognition of the importance of substance use disorder (SUD) terminology, few studies examine terminology preferences among patients with SUDs.ObjectiveTo examine preferences of patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) concerning the terminology used by addiction counselors.DesignFrom 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.ParticipantsParticipants were English-speaking adult patients with OUD enrolled in methadone treatment.Main MeasuresParticipants 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 ResultsWe 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).ConclusionsTerminology 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.© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Society of General Internal Medicine.

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