Beliefs and attitudes about prescribing opioids among healthcare providers seeking continuing medical education.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to assess the beliefs and attitudes of healthcare providers about prescribing opioids for chronic pain.


METHODS
The setting was a continuing medical education conference that was specifically designed to deliver content about chronic pain and prescription opioids to providers without specialty expertise in pain medicine.


METHODS
Conference attendees with prescribing privileges were eligible to participate, including physicians, physician assistants, and advance practice nurses.


METHODS
Study participants completed a questionnaire using an electronic response system.


METHODS
Study participants completed a validated questionnaire that was specifically developed to measure the beliefs and attitudes of healthcare providers about prescribing opioids for chronic pain.


RESULTS
The questionnaire was completed by 128 healthcare providers. The majority (58 percent) indicated that they were "likely" to prescribe opioids for chronic pain. A significant proportion of respondents had favorable beliefs and attitudes toward improvements in pain (p < 0.001) and quality of life (p < 0.001) attributed to prescribing opioids. However, a significant proportion had negative beliefs and attitudes about medication abuse (p < 0.001) and addiction (p < 0.001). Respondents also indicated that prescribing opioids could significantly increase the complexity of patient care and could unfavorably impact several administrative aspects of clinical practice.


CONCLUSIONS
The beliefs and attitudes identified in this study highlight important educational gaps that exist among healthcare providers about prescribing opioids. Knowledge of these educational gaps could build the capacity of medical educators to develop targeted educational materials that could improve the opioid prescribing practices of healthcare providers.
Department of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
W Michael
WM
Hooten
Barbara K
BK
Bruce
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000523:psychology; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control; D010823:Physician Assistants / Q000523:psychology; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid