Reducing Buprenorphine Misinformation as a Strategy to Improve Adoption in Primary Care

Buprenorphine is a highly effective medication for opioid use disorder, but it has not been widely implemented in primary care. Negative attitudes toward the medication are a well-known prescribing barrier. Health misinformation, a phenomenon which negatively informs attitudes and subsequent behavior, has been associated with lower willingness to treat OUD. Attitudinal barriers to buprenorphine prescribing may be due in part to misinformation about the medication. No studies have explored the link between buprenorphine misinformation and prescribing attitudes and behavior or assessed efforts to reduce buprenorphine misinformation among rural PCPs.

To explore buprenorphine misinformation as a modifiable prescribing barrier.

We analyzed pre-post survey data from 63 primary care providers (PCPs) who completed a brief buprenorphine prescribing support program and conducted semi-structured interviews among a subsample (n = 26) to explore how misinformation serves as a prescribing barrier. We assessed the most common forms of misinformation at baseline and post-intervention and used independent sample t-tests to assess whether post-intervention changes varied across subgroups. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

A brief prescribing support intervention reduced endorsement of common misinformation about buprenorphine and was most effective among PCPs who had never prescribed it. Misinformation endorsement was higher for rural PCPs at baseline and after training. Three qualitative themes emerged: PCPs described that misinformation frequently focused on misunderstandings of how buprenorphine works, originated from different people, including patients and health care professionals, and that additional training helped address misinformation.

Misinformation about buprenorphine is multifactorial and has clear consequences for implementation. Our findings suggest brief educational interventions can help primary care providers recognize misinformation that may otherwise undermine implementation efforts.