title: Pharmacists' role in opioid overdose: Kentucky pharmacists' willingness to participate in naloxone dispensing.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess pharmacists' willingness to initiate the dispensing of naloxone. As of 2015, Kentucky law permits certified pharmacists to dispense naloxone under a physician-approved protocol.
  
  
  METHODS
  Electronic survey (e-mail) gauging perception of pharmacists' role in opioid overdose and attitudes toward, and barriers to, naloxone dispensing.
  
  
  METHODS
  All Kentucky pharmacists with active licenses in 2015.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ordinal logistic regression was used to estimate the impact of pharmacist characteristics and attitudes on willingness to initiate naloxone dispensing, where the dependent variable was operationalized as a Likert-type question on a scale of 1 (not at all willing) to 6 (very willing).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 4699 practicing Kentucky pharmacists, 1282 responded, of which 834 were community practitioners (response rate 27.3%). Pharmacists reported varying willingness to initiate naloxone dispensing, with 37.3% very willing (score 5 or 6) and 27.9% not willing (score 1 or 2). However, a majority of pharmacists reported willingness to dispense naloxone with a valid prescription (54.0%, score 5 or 6). Women pharmacists were 1.3 times more likely than men to be willing to initiate naloxone dispensing (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.0-1.6). Those who reported confidence in identifying individuals at risk for overdose were 1.2 times more likely to initiate dispensing, and those who reported confidence in ability to educate patients about overdose were 1.6 times more likely to express willingness to initiate naloxone dispensing (95% CIs, respectively, 1.0-1.3 and 1.4-1.8). Community pharmacists reported barriers to naloxone access at higher rates than pharmacists from other practice settings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Kentucky pharmacists are divided in their willingness to initiate naloxone dispensing; however, those who are confident in their ability to identify overdose risks are more willing. Increasing pharmacist confidence through appropriately designed education programs could facilitate pharmacist participation in naloxone dispensing.
authors.forename: Patricia R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.forename: Amie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goodin
authors.forename: SuZanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Troske
authors.forename: Audra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Strahl
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fallin
authors.forename: Traci C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Green
mesh_terms: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D062787:Drug Overdose / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007629:Kentucky; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009270:Naloxone / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists / Q000008:administration & dosage; D010593:Pharmaceutical Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists; D009270:Naloxone