The measurement of perception and satisfaction with opiate substitute treatment programmes has concentrated mainly on evaluating the properties of the service offered at treatment centres. Beyond the health-care context, these programmes need to become part of the patient's personal and social life for them to be followed. The purpose of this work is to offer a theoretical frame of reference for the construction of a scale for integral measurement of patient perception of opiate substitute treatments. A sample of 18 outpatient and residential patients in a buprenorphine pilot study, transferred from a methadone treatment programme, who showed indications of abandoning treatment, was given a semi-structured interview. The data analysis was done based on the Grounded Theory, and the dimensions were coded and material triangulated by three specialized analysts. The results show that patient perception of treatment with substitutes is aligned in five main dimensions, value to health, adaptation to daily life, stigma, treatment withdrawal and perceived effectiveness. These results are discussed and compared to those found in specialised literature.