TY - JOUR
T1 - An exploration of emergency physicians' attitudes toward patients with substance use disorder
AU - Mendiola, Cecelia Kathleen
AU - Galetto, Giorgio
AU - Fingerhood, Michael
N1 - Funding Information:
From the Deparment of Medicine (CKM, MF); Department of Emergency Medicine, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, MD (GG). Received for publication August 1, 2017; accepted December 13, 2017. This work was funded by the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Dean’s Funding, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry William Walker Award, and the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) Dr. Elizabeth Small Grant. The authors report no conflicts of interest. Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citation appears in the printed text and is provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal’s Web site (www.journaladdictionmedicine.com). Send correspondence to Michael Fingerhood, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, 5200 Eastern Avenue, Mason Lord Building, West Tower, 5th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21224. E-mail: mfinger3@jhmi.edu; Cecelia Kathleen Mendiola, BA, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. E-mail: cmendiola@jhmi.edu Copyright © 2018 American Society of Addiction Medicine ISSN: 1932-0620/18/1202-0132 DOI: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000000377
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2018 American Society of Addiction Medicine.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Objectives: Much is known about some healthcare professionals' attitudes toward patients with substance use disorders, but few studies have specifically looked at emergency department (ED) physicians. Individuals with substance use disorders are more likely to be people who chronically, frequently use the ED, and thus ED physicians are in a unique position to provide early identification and intervention for people struggling with addiction. The purpose of this study was to understand ED physicians' attitudes toward patients with substance use disorder with the aim of decreasing stigma and improving the care of ED patients with substance use disorder. Methods: An anonymous Qualtrics survey was emailed to 115 emergency physicians in the Johns Hopkins Health System. The survey contained (1) demographics and (2) the medical condition regard scale, http://links.lww.com/JAM/A67. Participants were offered a $10 Amazon gift card to complete the survey. Results: The response rate was 50% (n=58) and the completion rate was 43% (n=50). Physicians had lower regard for patients with substance use disorders than other medical conditions with behavioral components. Of note, 54% of respondents indicated that they at least "somewhat agree" that they "prefer not to work with patients with substance use who have pain." Conclusions: A significant portion of our study population had low regard for patients with substance use. Future research is needed to determine significant contributing factors and develop interventions to mitigate negative attitudes among ED physicians toward patients with substance use disorder.
AB - Objectives: Much is known about some healthcare professionals' attitudes toward patients with substance use disorders, but few studies have specifically looked at emergency department (ED) physicians. Individuals with substance use disorders are more likely to be people who chronically, frequently use the ED, and thus ED physicians are in a unique position to provide early identification and intervention for people struggling with addiction. The purpose of this study was to understand ED physicians' attitudes toward patients with substance use disorder with the aim of decreasing stigma and improving the care of ED patients with substance use disorder. Methods: An anonymous Qualtrics survey was emailed to 115 emergency physicians in the Johns Hopkins Health System. The survey contained (1) demographics and (2) the medical condition regard scale, http://links.lww.com/JAM/A67. Participants were offered a $10 Amazon gift card to complete the survey. Results: The response rate was 50% (n=58) and the completion rate was 43% (n=50). Physicians had lower regard for patients with substance use disorders than other medical conditions with behavioral components. Of note, 54% of respondents indicated that they at least "somewhat agree" that they "prefer not to work with patients with substance use who have pain." Conclusions: A significant portion of our study population had low regard for patients with substance use. Future research is needed to determine significant contributing factors and develop interventions to mitigate negative attitudes among ED physicians toward patients with substance use disorder.
KW - attitudes
KW - emergency department
KW - stigma
KW - substance use disorder
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85044177580&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85044177580&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/ADM.0000000000000377
DO - 10.1097/ADM.0000000000000377
M3 - Article
C2 - 29351141
AN - SCOPUS:85044177580
SN - 1932-0620
VL - 12
SP - 132
EP - 135
JO - Journal of addiction medicine
JF - Journal of addiction medicine
IS - 2
ER -