101. Health Care Provider Attitudes, Beliefs, and Perceived Confidence in Managing Patients With Cancer Pain and Nonmedical Opioid Use
- Author
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Joseph Arthur, David Hui, Tonya Edwards, Eduardo Bruera, Bryan Fellman, and Zhanni Lu
- Subjects
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Attitude of Health Personnel ,Health care provider ,Health Personnel ,Attitudes beliefs ,Article ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Neoplasms ,Health care ,medicine ,Humans ,In patient ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Competence (human resources) ,General Nursing ,business.industry ,Opioid use ,Cancer Pain ,Analgesics, Opioid ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine ,Opioid ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Family medicine ,Neurology (clinical) ,Cancer pain ,business ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Context Health care provider education is an effective strategy to improve knowledge and competencies in opioid-prescribing practices. However, there are very few studies regarding this among providers of patients with cancer pain and nonmedical opioid use (NMOU). The aim of our study was to assess participants' attitudes, beliefs, and self-perceived confidence in caring for patients with cancer pain and NMOU before and after attending an opioid educational seminar on the use and nonmedical use of opioids in patients with cancer. Methods An anonymous cross-sectional survey was conducted among health care providers who attended an opioid educational event in April 2018 and May 2019. Results The overall response rate was 63% (129 of 206). Approximately 72% of participants had concerns about NMOU in patients with cancer, 69% felt that such patients are frequently underdetected, and 63% felt that cancer pain is frequently undertreated. At baseline, only 23% reported adequate knowledge and 35% reported confidence in caring for patients with cancer with NMOU-related issues. Among those who completed both the preseminar and postseminar surveys, these numbers improved significantly at the end of the seminar (26% vs. 71% and 43% vs. 84%, respectively; all P Conclusion Most health care providers expressed concerns about underdetection of NMOU and undertreatment of pain among patients with cancer. Many self-reported knowledge and confidence deficits in caring for patients with cancer with NMOU. Seminar participation was associated with an increase in the number of participants with self-perceived knowledge and confidence. Future studies are needed to ascertain the impact of such opioid educational events on patient care practices.
- Published
- 2021
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