Dataset Information

Safe Opioid Storage and Disposal: A Survey of Patient Beliefs and Practices.

ABSTRACT: Objective:To evaluate knowledge, practices, and beliefs of US patients receiving prescription opioids regarding opioid storage, disposal, and diversion. Design:Internet-based, cross-sectional survey conducted between September and October 2018. Fisher's exact tests and Kendall's Tau-c were used to assess associations with storage and disposal outcomes. Participants:Patients aged ?18 years with acute (n=250) or chronic noncancer (n=250) pain were prescribed an oral opioid within 90 days of the survey. Results:Mean (SD) patient age was 48 (14.7) years, 57.2% were female, 82.6% lived with ?1 person in the home, and 28.0% had remaining/unused pills. One-third of all patients received safe opioid storage (35.2%) and/or disposal (31.4%) counseling from a healthcare provider, while 50.0% received neither storage nor disposal information. Only 27.4% of all patients stored their opioids in a locked location, and 17.9% of those with remaining/unused pills disposed of their medication. Patients who received any opioid counseling were more likely to keep their medication in a locked location compared with those who did not (42.4% vs 12.4%, respectively; P<0.0001), as were those who perceived any risk of opioid diversion in the home compared with those who perceived no risk or were unsure (53.7% vs 24.2%, respectively; P<0.0001). Disposal rates did not differ based on counseling received (20.8% counseled vs 16.1% not counseled; P=0.5011) or perceived diversion risk (27.8% perceived any risk vs 16.4% perceived no risk or unsure; P=0.3166). Conclusion:The proportion of patients receiving prescription opioids who receive safe storage/disposal counseling from a healthcare provider appears suboptimal. Further research is warranted to develop effective ways to improve patient opioid storage/disposal education and practices.

SUBMITTER: Gregorian R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7231783 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Safe Opioid Storage and Disposal: A Survey of Patient Beliefs and Practices.

Gregorian Razmic R Marrett Elizabeth E Sivathanu Vivek V Torgal Mariana M Shah Sejal S Kwong Winghan Jacqueline WJ Gudin Jeffrey J

Journal of pain research 20200511

<h4>Objective</h4>To evaluate knowledge, practices, and beliefs of US patients receiving prescription opioids regarding opioid storage, disposal, and diversion.<h4>Design</h4>Internet-based, cross-sectional survey conducted between September and October 2018. Fisher's exact tests and Kendall's Tau-c were used to assess associations with storage and disposal outcomes.<h4>Participants</h4>Patients aged ≥18 years with acute (n=250) or chronic noncancer (n=250) pain were prescribed an oral opioid wi ...[more]

PMID: 32494187

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundDespite the growing use of opioids to treat cancer pain and the probability of opioid aberrancy in the cancer setting, clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) or recommendations for active screening and monitoring of opioid compliance are lacking.ObjectivesTo evaluate the current practices and attitudes clinicians have toward monitoring and prescribing opioids in patients with cancer; to describe the current practice of screening and monitoring opioid compliance in the cancer setting; to provide insight into the role that CPGs may have in addressing opioid aberrancy in the oncologic population.HypothesisClinicians adopt diverse clinical practices and attitudes toward opioid screening and monitoring based on cancer status.DesignA 24-question survey that evaluated the practices and attitudes that clinicians have when screening, monitoring, and prescribing opioids in patients with active cancer and history of cancer was completed by 105 pain management physicians. A comprehensive literature review was completed, evaluating the current state of available literature regarding opioid aberrancy and opioid risk in the cancer setting and CPGs for opioid monitor compliance in the cancer setting.SettingMulticenter, survey-based study to clinicians regarding pain management strategies in patients with active cancer, patients with a history of cancer, and patients with no history of cancer.ResultsCancer status plays a role in the clinician's decision to screen and monitor opioid compliance in the oncologic population. For patients with active cancer, clinicians are more likely to prescribe opioids despite patient refusal for toxicology screen as well as history of substance abuse. For patients with no history of cancer, clinicians are more likely to refuse a prescription refill and eliminate opioids from treatment regimen.ConclusionsBased upon the results of our study and evidence from current literature provided, the authors advocate for further investigation and development of CPGs to ensure the safe and prudent screening, monitoring, and prescribing of opioids in the oncologic population.

Project description:ObjectiveWe aim to determine the disposal site for biohazardous materials resulting from diabetes surveillance and therapy.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingFive Portuguese primary care facilities.ParticipantsWe randomly sampled diabetic patients representative of five primary care facilities. Inclusion criteria consisted in patients≥18 years old with an active diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (DM). Patients unable to provide written informed consent were excluded.Outcome measureSociodemographic variables, diabetes duration, type of treatment, medical sharps disposal practices and whether adequate disposal information were provided.ResultsA total of 1436 diabetics were included. Overall, 53.8% of diabetics conducted regular capillary glicemia measurements, although 45.3% of them had no medical indication. Statistically significant predictors of adequate disposal were not having an active professional status (p=0.011) and having a DM duration between 5 and 10 years (p=0.014). Only being professionally inactive remained an independent predictor after multivariate logistic regression. Less than a fifth of patients on injectable therapy report having been advised by healthcare staff regarding sharps disposal. Over a fifth of the latter report having received wrong advice. The majority of diabetics dispose of biohazardous materials in unsorted household waste (68.1% of needles/devices with needles and 71.6% of lancets). Other incorrect disposal sites identified were recycling bins, toilet and home accumulation. Only 19.1% of the needles/devices with needles and 13.1% of the lancets were disposed of at healthcare facilities.ConclusionsMost diabetics have unsafe disposal practices for their biohazardous materials, mostly in unsorted household waste. We identified that being unemployed independently predicts adequate disposal of medical sharps and found evidence of low patient literacy on the topic, as well as poor patient education. Therefore, educating and raising awareness among healthcare professionals is crucial to address this public health issue.

Dataset Information

Safe Opioid Storage and Disposal: A Survey of Patient Beliefs and Practices.

Publications

Safe Opioid Storage and Disposal: A Survey of Patient Beliefs and Practices.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets