Improving First-Year Family Medicine Residents' Confidence in Safe Opioid Prescribing Through a Multiactivity...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Pain Management
• Opioid Prescribing

Background:

• Opioid diversion for nonmedical use is a significant concern.
• Effective management of chronic noncancer pain requires careful patient assessment and opioid prescribing.
• Family medicine residents need specialized training in chronic pain management (CPM).

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a skill-based CPM educational program for first-year family medicine residents.
• To assess the program's impact on residents' comfort, knowledge, and concerns regarding opioid use for chronic noncancer pain.
• To determine if CPM training improves residents' ability to manage patients on opioid therapy.

Main Methods:

• A 3-month CPM training intervention involving didactic lectures and objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) activities.
• A single-sample, pre/post design with 72 first-year residents across four cohorts.
• Outcome measures (comfort, knowledge, concern) assessed at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months postintervention using repeated measures analyses.

Main Results:

• Residents reported significant improvements in comfort, knowledge, and concern scores at 3 and 6 months postintervention compared to baseline.
• At 6 months, comfort scores improved (F[1, 71]=65.22; P<.001), knowledge scores improved (F[1, 71]=22.38; P<.001), and concern scores improved (F[1, 71]=37.89; P<.001).
• The CPM program demonstrated a positive impact on residents' perceived ability to manage patients using opioids for chronic noncancer pain.

Conclusions:

• A comprehensive CPM educational program enhanced residents' confidence and competence in managing patients on opioid therapy.
• CPM training interventions are effective in equipping residents with best practices for pain management.
• This education can potentially reduce instances of inappropriate controlled substance prescribing and improve analgesia delivery.