Opiophobia in Emergency Department Healthcare Providers: A Survey in Western Switzerland

Sarah Bertrand; Gabriel Meynet; Patrick Taffé; Vincent Della Santa; Daniel Fishman; Yvan Fournier; Vincent Frochaux; Vincent Ribordy; Olivier T Rutschmann; Olivier Hugli

doi:10.3390/jcm10071353

Opiophobia in Emergency Department Healthcare Providers: A Survey in Western Switzerland

J Clin Med. 2021 Mar 25;10(7):1353. doi: 10.3390/jcm10071353.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland.
² Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Lausanne, Corniche 10, 1010 Lausanne, Switzerland.
³ Emergency Department, Hôpital Neuchâtelois, Maladière 45, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
⁴ Emergency Department, Route de Morgins, Hôpital du Chablais, 1870 Monthey, Switzerland.
⁵ Emergency Department, Colline 3, Hôpital Intercantonal de la Broye, 1530 Payerne, Switzerland.
⁶ Emergency Department, Grand-Champsec 80, Hôpital de Sion, 1950 Sion, Switzerland.
⁷ Emergency Department, Pensionnats 2-6, Hôpital Fribourgeois, 1708 Fribourg, Switzerland.
⁸ Emergency Department, Geneva University Hospitals and School of Medicine, Gabrielle Perret-Gentil 2, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland.
⁹ Emergency Department, University Hospital of Lausanne and Lausanne University, Bugnon 46, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland.

Abstract

Opiophobia contributes to oligoanalgesia in the emergency department (ED), but its definition varies, and its association to healthcare providers' personality traits has been scantly explored. Our purpose was to study the different definitions of opiophobia and their association with two personality traits of doctors and nurses working in EDs, namely the stress from uncertainty and risk-taking. We used three online questionnaires: the 'Attitude Towards Morphine Use' Score (ATMS), the Stress From Uncertainty Scale (SUS) and the Risk-Taking Scale (RTS). Doctors and nurses from nine hospital EDs in francophone Switzerland were invited to participate. The ATMS score was analyzed according to demographic characteristics, SUS, and RTS. The response rate was 56%, with 57% of respondents being nurses and 63% women. Doctors, less experienced and non-indigenous participants had a significantly higher ATMS (all p ≤ 0.01). The main contributors of the ATMS were the fear of side effects and of addiction. In multivariate analysis, being a doctor, less experience and non-indigenous status were predictive of the ATMS; each point of the SUS increased the ATMS by 0.24 point. The fear of side effects and of addiction were the major contributors of opiophobia among ED healthcare providers; opiophobia was also associated with their personality traits.

Keywords: acute pain; emergency department; morphine; opiates; opiophobia; risk-taking; risks; uncertainty.