Fentanyl Overdose Harm Reduction Intervention: A Pretest-Posttest Study Among High School Students in Southern...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Adolescent Health
• Substance Use Prevention

Background:

• Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid driving the U.S. overdose epidemic, posing significant risks to adolescents.
• Illicit fentanyl use in Los Angeles County has sharply increased mortality rates.
• Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the rapid health deterioration caused by uncontrolled illicit opioids.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of two harm reduction videos in improving knowledge and attitudes among high school students.
• To assess the impact of educational interventions on substance use behaviors in adolescents.
• To inform public health strategies for opioid overdose prevention.

Main Methods:

• A pre-post design pilot study involving 76 high school students.
• Administration of pre- and post-tests to measure changes in knowledge and attitudes.
• Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests used for statistical analysis with SPSS 29.0.

Main Results:

• Statistically significant improvements in knowledge and attitudes were observed post-intervention and at 3-month follow-up.
• No significant decline in overdose knowledge retention was noted between post-test and follow-up.
• The study suggests educational interventions can positively influence adolescent perceptions of opioid risks.

Conclusions:

• Harm reduction videos are effective educational tools for improving adolescent knowledge and attitudes towards opioid risks.
• Community collaborations and accessible harm reduction resources are crucial for effective substance use prevention.
• Large-scale adoption of feasible educational interventions is recommended to combat the adolescent opioid overdose crisis.