Educational Intervention for Health Care Providers Prescribing Opioids for Individuals with Chronic Pain

Background: Health care providers (HCP) are the primary caregivers for chronic pain in ambulatory care practice and are the predominant prescribers of opioids. Pain medication accounts for at least 11% of all prescriptions in ambulatory care yet research suggests the number could be as high as 20%. Given the current opioid epidemic, HCPs need guidelines to assist in treating chronic pain patients. Methods: An educational intervention was implemented in a primary care practice to increase provider knowledge of chronic pain management and opioid prescribing utilizing a pre-survey, PowerPoint presentation, and post-knowledge survey. Results: Seven providers attended the education intervention and completed the pre-test survey. Out of the seven providers, only four completed the final assessment. The KnowPain-12 survey was used to measure the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of health care providers. The KnowPain-12 survey score ranges from 0 to 60, with a higher score corresponding to a more correct response (Gordon et al., 2014). Amongst the four providers, the results were evenly split. Two of the four providers had a higher score following the intervention and two had lower scores. The scores following the intervention indicate that there was an increase in two of the providers\u27 KAP. However, two providers decreased in KAP. Conclusion: Further research into educational interventions and opioid prescribing needs to be done. The KAP Survey should be amended to include provider demographics, level of experience, and level of prior pain management education. Future studies should also have a larger sample size and include other types of healthcare professionals