Protocol for an economic analysis of the randomised controlled trial of Improving the Well-being of people with Opioid Treated CHronic pain: I-WOTCH Study.

Introduction: Over the last two decades, the use of opioids for the treatment of chronic pain in England has steadily increased despite lack of evidence of both long-term effectiveness in pain relief and significant, well-documented physical and mental adverse events. Guidelines recommend tapering when harms outweigh benefits, but the addictive nature of opioids hinders simple dose-reduction strategies. Improving the Well-being of people with Opioid Treated CHronic pain (I-WOTCH) trial tests a multicomponent self-management intervention aimed to help patients with chronic non-malignant pain taper opioid doses.