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Although the majority of opioids in the US are prescribed by nonpain specialists, these providers often report inadequate training in chronic pain management and opioid prescribing.
This study has
provided an easy and concise information on the use of opioids to curb pain. It
has also put light on that the healthcare providers should have proper
knowledge about the opioid usage for efficient management.
Although the
majority of opioids in the US are prescribed by nonpain specialists, these
providers often report inadequate training in chronic pain management and
opioid prescribing. The extent of health care providers' knowledge of opioid
prescribing for chronic pain has not been well established. The purpose of this
study was to assess knowledge about the use of opioids for chronic pain among
health care providers seeking pain-focused continuing medical education.
The study
participants (n=131) were recruited at a pain-focused continuing medical
education conference for nonpain specialists. Upon commencement of the
conference, the KnowPain-50 survey was completed. The survey comprised 50
questions, and 18 questions were related to opioid management. The focus of
each opioid question was further categorized as either medicolegal (n=7) or
clinical (n=11).
The majority of
study participants were male physicians with a mean age of 51.8 years. The
proportion of correct responses to the 50-item survey was 72%. The proportion
of correct responses to the 32 nonopioid questions was 74%, and the proportion
of correct responses to the 18 opioid questions was 69% (P<0.001). Similarly,
the proportion of correct responses to the seven medicolegal opioid questions
was 74%, and the proportion of correct responses to the eleven clinical opioid
questions was 67% (P<0.001).
Health care
providers demonstrated gaps in knowledge about the use of opioids for chronic
pain. Lower scores on clinically based opioid questions may indicate an
opportunity to provide focused educational content about this area of practice.
This information could be helpful in designing future educational modules for
nonpain providers.
J Pain Res. 2016 Mar 10;9:129-35
Opioids for chronic pain: a knowledge assessment of nonpain specialty providers
Pearson AC et al.
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