Developing a health communication campaign for disposal of unused opioid medications

Kathleen L Egan; Mark Wolfson; Kaylee M Lukacena; Carina M Zelaya; Monique S McLeary; Donald W Helme

doi:10.1016/j.abrep.2020.100291

Developing a health communication campaign for disposal of unused opioid medications

Addict Behav Rep. 2020 Jun 18:12:100291. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2020.100291. eCollection 2020 Dec.

Authors

Kathleen L Egan¹, Mark Wolfson², Kaylee M Lukacena³, Carina M Zelaya³, Monique S McLeary⁴, Donald W Helme³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Education and Promotion, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, United States.
² Department of Social Medicine, Population, and Public Health, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States.
³ Department of Communication, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, United States.
⁴ Department of Public Health Education, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, United States.

Abstract

Introduction: Communities throughout the United States have implemented medicine disposal programs to prevent diversion of unused opioid analgesics from homes but a general lack of awareness may contribute to low rates of utilization. The objective of this study was to develop and test community-based campaign messages promoting appropriate disposal of unused opioids at disposal programs.

Methods: In Fall 2019, 491 residents (79% female, 97% White, mean age: 40 years) of five rural, Appalachian counties (3 in Kentucky and 2 in North Carolina) completed a web-based, experimental survey. Participants were randomly exposed to two of four messages and rated each message separately. A pretest-posttest design was utilized to assess change in beliefs about retaining unused prescription opioids in the home following exposure to message sets.

Results: All messages favorably influenced participants' perceptions related to concerns and risks of retaining unused prescription opioids and importance of - and self-efficacy in disposing of unused opioid medications. After controlling for social and demographic characteristics and baseline beliefs in generalized linear mixed models, Message 1 outperformed other messages in increasing participants' concern about retaining unused prescription opioids in the home and Message 3 was most effective in increasing self-efficacy to dispose of unused prescription opioids.

Conclusions: Messages including young children and pictorially demonstrate how to dispose of medications may have the greatest impact on behavioral actions related to medication disposal. The findings from this study can be used to inform community-based campaigns to facilitate disposal of unused prescription opioids.

Keywords: Communication campaign; Disposal; Opioid; Prescription drug; Prevention.