The investigators overall study objective is to improve patients knowledge and safe use of opioid pain relievers upon discharge from the Emergency Department.
Recent studies indicate that emergency department (ED) discharge processes - including written and spoken communications - are inadequate, and patients often leave without the knowledge necessary to properly care for themselves. In the context of opioid pain relievers, this lack of knowledge is potentially dangerous, as patients may not possess the requisite knowledge for safe use of their medication or an awareness of the dangers of medication misuse. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of an opioid information sheet and spoken counseling on patient knowledge about opioids and safe use behaviors. The investigators conducted a randomized controlled pilot test of a dual-modality educational intervention (written information sheet and spoken counseling about opioids) to assess if the intervention can increase patient knowledge about opioid pain relievers. These activities were intended to guide future modification of educational interventions and the future development of best practices for emergency physician spoken counseling about opioid pain relievers.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
278
Patients receiving this intervention are given additional information about the opioid pain medication that they are receiving in the form of a one page handout. The hand out was written in a health-literacy appropriate manner. A research assistant read the handout to them out loud, and they were given a copy to take home with them.
Northwestern University
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Knowledge of medication name
The primary outcome was the patients ability to identify the medication name of their prescribed opioid pain reliever upon follow-up.
Time frame: 4-7 days
Knowledge and counseling recall outcomes
In addition to the outcome of medication name patients were asked additional knowledge and recall questions including: active ingredients in the medication, knowledge about safe daily dose of acetaminophen, side effects, recall of counseling about activities to avoid (drinking alcohol, driving vehicle), knowledge about addictive potential of the medication.
Time frame: 4-7 days
Actual Use outcomes
Patients were queried about their home use of the medication including: pain score at home, average number of tabs per day, and satisfaction with pain reduction. Additionally they were asked about the timing of any alcohol consumption or driving in relation to the timing of medication dosing.
Time frame: 4-7 days
Response to the intervention
Patients in the intervention arm were asked how they liked the intervention using a series of question with a Likert scale.
Time frame: 4-7 days
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