Abstract
Objective: To describe patient-provider communication about opioid pain medicine and explore how these discussions affect provider attitudes toward patients. Methods: We audio-recorded 45 HIV providers and 423 patients in routine outpatient encounters at four sites across the country. Providers completed post-visit questionnaires assessing their attitudes toward patients. We identified discussions about opioid pain management and analyzed them qualitatively. We used logistic regression to assess the association between opioid discussion and providers' attitudes toward patients. Results: 48 encounters (11% of the total sample) contained substantive discussion of opioid-related pain management. Most conversations were initiated by patients (n = 28, 58%) and ended by the providers (n = 36, 75%). Twelve encounters (25%) contained dialog suggesting a difference of opinion or conflict. Providers more often agreed than disagreed to give the prescription (50% vs. 23%), sometimes reluctantly; in 27% (n = 13) of encounters, no decision was made. Fewer than half of providers (n = 20, 42%) acknowledged the patient's experience of pain. Providers had a lower odds of positive regard for the patient (adjusted OR = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.27-0.95) when opioids were discussed. Conclusions: Pain management discussions are common in routine outpatient HIV encounters and providers may regard patients less favorably if opioids are discussed during visits. The sometimes-adversarial nature of these discussions may negatively affect provider attitudes toward patients. Practice implications: Empathy and pain acknowledgment are tools that clinicians can use to facilitate productive discussions of pain management.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 453-461 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Patient Education and Counseling |
| Volume | 98 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2015 |
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Keywords
- Communication
- Mixed methods
- Pain
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine(all)
Cite this
A mixed methods study of patient-provider communication about opioid analgesics. / Hughes, Helen; Korthuis, Philip Todd; Saha, Somnath; Eggly, Susan; Sharp, Victoria; Cohn, Jonathan; Moore, Richard D; Beach, Mary Catherine.
In: Patient Education and Counseling, Vol. 98, No. 4, 2015, p. 453-461.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - A mixed methods study of patient-provider communication about opioid analgesics
AU - Hughes, Helen
AU - Korthuis, Philip Todd
AU - Saha, Somnath
AU - Eggly, Susan
AU - Sharp, Victoria
AU - Cohn, Jonathan
AU - Moore, Richard D
AU - Beach, Mary Catherine
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Objective: To describe patient-provider communication about opioid pain medicine and explore how these discussions affect provider attitudes toward patients. Methods: We audio-recorded 45 HIV providers and 423 patients in routine outpatient encounters at four sites across the country. Providers completed post-visit questionnaires assessing their attitudes toward patients. We identified discussions about opioid pain management and analyzed them qualitatively. We used logistic regression to assess the association between opioid discussion and providers' attitudes toward patients. Results: 48 encounters (11% of the total sample) contained substantive discussion of opioid-related pain management. Most conversations were initiated by patients (n = 28, 58%) and ended by the providers (n = 36, 75%). Twelve encounters (25%) contained dialog suggesting a difference of opinion or conflict. Providers more often agreed than disagreed to give the prescription (50% vs. 23%), sometimes reluctantly; in 27% (n = 13) of encounters, no decision was made. Fewer than half of providers (n = 20, 42%) acknowledged the patient's experience of pain. Providers had a lower odds of positive regard for the patient (adjusted OR = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.27-0.95) when opioids were discussed. Conclusions: Pain management discussions are common in routine outpatient HIV encounters and providers may regard patients less favorably if opioids are discussed during visits. The sometimes-adversarial nature of these discussions may negatively affect provider attitudes toward patients. Practice implications: Empathy and pain acknowledgment are tools that clinicians can use to facilitate productive discussions of pain management.
AB - Objective: To describe patient-provider communication about opioid pain medicine and explore how these discussions affect provider attitudes toward patients. Methods: We audio-recorded 45 HIV providers and 423 patients in routine outpatient encounters at four sites across the country. Providers completed post-visit questionnaires assessing their attitudes toward patients. We identified discussions about opioid pain management and analyzed them qualitatively. We used logistic regression to assess the association between opioid discussion and providers' attitudes toward patients. Results: 48 encounters (11% of the total sample) contained substantive discussion of opioid-related pain management. Most conversations were initiated by patients (n = 28, 58%) and ended by the providers (n = 36, 75%). Twelve encounters (25%) contained dialog suggesting a difference of opinion or conflict. Providers more often agreed than disagreed to give the prescription (50% vs. 23%), sometimes reluctantly; in 27% (n = 13) of encounters, no decision was made. Fewer than half of providers (n = 20, 42%) acknowledged the patient's experience of pain. Providers had a lower odds of positive regard for the patient (adjusted OR = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.27-0.95) when opioids were discussed. Conclusions: Pain management discussions are common in routine outpatient HIV encounters and providers may regard patients less favorably if opioids are discussed during visits. The sometimes-adversarial nature of these discussions may negatively affect provider attitudes toward patients. Practice implications: Empathy and pain acknowledgment are tools that clinicians can use to facilitate productive discussions of pain management.
KW - Communication
KW - Mixed methods
KW - Pain
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84933277513&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84933277513&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pec.2014.12.003
DO - 10.1016/j.pec.2014.12.003
M3 - Article
VL - 98
SP - 453
EP - 461
JO - Patient Education and Counseling
JF - Patient Education and Counseling
SN - 0738-3991
IS - 4
ER -