Opioids in the Treatment of Pain. Beliefs, Knowledge, and Attitudes of the General Spanish Population. Identification of Subgroups Through Cluster Analysis

Helena de Sola; Alejandro Salazar; María Dueñas; Inmaculada Failde

doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2017.12.474

Opioids in the Treatment of Pain. Beliefs, Knowledge, and Attitudes of the General Spanish Population. Identification of Subgroups Through Cluster Analysis

J Pain Symptom Manage. 2018 Apr;55(4):1095-1104. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2017.12.474. Epub 2017 Dec 15.

Authors

Helena de Sola¹, Alejandro Salazar², María Dueñas³, Inmaculada Failde¹

Affiliations

¹ Preventive Medicine and Public Health Area, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain; The Observatory of Pain (External Chair of Pain), University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Grünenthal Foundation-University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain; Institute of Research and Innovation in Biomedical Sciences of the Province of Cádiz (INIBICA), Cádiz, Spain.
² The Observatory of Pain (External Chair of Pain), University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Grünenthal Foundation-University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain; Institute of Research and Innovation in Biomedical Sciences of the Province of Cádiz (INIBICA), Cádiz, Spain; Department of Statistics and Operational Research, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain. Electronic address: alejandro.salazar@uca.es.
³ The Observatory of Pain (External Chair of Pain), University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Grünenthal Foundation-University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain; Institute of Research and Innovation in Biomedical Sciences of the Province of Cádiz (INIBICA), Cádiz, Spain; Department of Statistics and Operational Research, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain.

PMID: 29248566
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2017.12.474

Abstract

Context: A lack of information has been found related to patients' perception toward pain management.

Objectives: To analyze the point of view of the general Spanish population regarding the use of opioids in pain treatment. To identify groups of individuals based on this information.

Methods: Nationwide cross-sectional study on a representative sample of 1299 Spanish adults. Data were collected on beliefs, knowledge, fears, opinions, and attitudes toward the use of opioids. A cluster analysis to identify groups of people based on these parameters and a multinomial logistic regression model to analyze the variables related to the clusters were performed.

Results: Three groups of subjects were identified based on their perspective toward opioids: a first group with a positive point of view (N = 448) composed of people older than 65 years who would accept a treatment if prescribed and who were less fearful of these drugs; a second group with a moderate point of view (N = 337) formed by younger subjects with university education, better informed about opioids, afraid of these drugs (odds ratio [OR] 2.67), and more frequently associated them with drowsiness (OR 2.58), nausea (OR 3.04), and tolerance (OR 2.16); and a third group with a negative point of view (N = 468), with lower educational level who would more often reject treatment with opioids, more afraid of them (OR 3.95), considering that they may not be able to stop the treatment (OR 3.04) and may produce tolerance (OR 3.03).

Conclusion: The different perspectives of patients regarding the use of opioids to treat pain should be taken into consideration by the physician when designing strategies to inform patients about the treatment of pain with opioids. This should promote their correct use, specially preventing their misuse.

Keywords: Opioids; attitudes; beliefs; epidemiology; knowledge; opiophobia.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Analgesics, Opioid / therapeutic use*
Cluster Analysis
Cross-Sectional Studies
Fear
Female
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice*
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Middle Aged
Pain / drug therapy*
Pain Management / psychology*
Spain
Young Adult

Substances

Analgesics, Opioid