Back to Search
Start Over
Revisiting the relationship between contact and physician attitudes toward patients with opioid use disorder
- Source :
- Addictive Behaviors Reports, Vol 14, Iss, Pp 100372-(2021), Addictive Behaviors Reports
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Elsevier, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Highlights • Contact with stigmatized groups is a promising mechanism for reducing bias. • The nature of contact with patients who misuse opioids matters significantly. • Contact with patients who misuse opioids can have negative consequences for physicians. • Consequences occur in physicians who are experiencing stress, burnout, and bias. • Interventions need to consider factors that may reduce the effectiveness of contact.<br />Introduction Prior research suggests that some physicians hold negative attitudes toward patients who misuse opioids and that this serves as a barrier which limits the availability and effectiveness of health care services. Interventions which improve physicians’ attitudes have thus garnered attention, many of which have focused on increasing contact between physicians and patients who misuse opioids. However, drawing on recent literature on intergroup contact, the current paper argues that contact may not have uniformly positive effects on prejudice. Methods We surveyed 408 board-certified physicians in the state of Ohio where many opioid overdose deaths have been concentrated. We used regression to test for interactions between contact and three focal variables, bias, burnout, and stress, on physician willingness to work with patients who misuse opioids. Results The negative relationships between bias, physician burnout, and stress induced by working with patients who misuse opioids and physicians’ willingness to work with this patient population are each exacerbated when contact with patients who misuse opioids is high. Conclusions Although intervention studies have shown promise for the role that increased contact may have in reducing stigma toward patients who misuse opioids, these interventions may not be appropriate for physicians who are experiencing strain or who hold preexisting negative attitudes toward this patient population. Future interventions may need to target bias, burnout, and stress, in addition to facilitating contact, to increase physician willingness to work with these patients.
- Subjects :
- Physician burnout
medicine.medical_specialty
Research paper
business.industry
Psychological intervention
Stigma (botany)
Opioid overdose
Opioid use disorder
Intervention
Burnout
medicine.disease
BF1-990
Psychiatry and Mental health
Stigma
Bias
Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
Health care
Contact
Medicine
Psychology
business
Psychiatry
HV1-9960
Prejudice (legal term)
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 23528532
- Volume :
- 14
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Addictive Behaviors Reports
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....fec0bf8bde97cc6f582a2ca42693ec94