Background
Overdose is the most
common cause of fatalities among opioid users. Naloxone is a life-saving
medication for reversing opioid overdose. In Ireland, it is currently available
to ambulance and emergency care services, but General Practitioners (GP) are in
regular contact with opioid users and their families. This positions them to
provide naloxone themselves or to instruct patients how to use it. The new
Clinical Practice Guidelines of the Pre-hospital Emergency Care Council of
Ireland allows trained bystanders to administer intranasal naloxone.
We describe the
development and process evaluation of an educational intervention, designed to
help GP trainees identify and manage opioid overdose with intranasal naloxone.
Methods
Participants (N = 23) from one postgraduate
training scheme in Ireland participated in a one-hour training session. The
repeated-measures design, using the validated Opioid Overdose Knowledge (OOKS)
and Attitudes (OOAS) Scales, examined changes immediately after training.
Acceptability and satisfaction with training were measured with a
self-administered questionnaire.
Results
Knowledge of the risks
of overdose and appropriate actions to be taken increased significantly
post-training [OOKS mean difference, 3.52 (standard deviation 4.45); P < 0.001];
attitudes improved too [OOAS mean difference, 11.13 (SD 6.38); P < 0.001].
The most and least useful delivery methods were simulation and video,
respectively.
Conclusion
Appropriate training is
a key requirement for the distribution of naloxone through general practice. In
future studies, the knowledge from this pilot will be used to inform a
train-the-trainer model, whereby healthcare professionals and other front-line
service providers will be trained to instruct opioid users and their families in
overdose prevention and naloxone use.
Full article at:
By: 
Mairead Egan, Helen Tobin, Neil Coleman, and Gerard Bury
Mairead Egan, Helen Tobin, Neil Coleman, and Gerard Bury
Centre for
Emergency Medical Science, School of Medicine and Medical Science, University
College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
British Columbia
Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul’s Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street,
Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 1Y6 Canada
c/o Coombe Family
Practice, Dolphins barn, Dublin, Ireland
Jan Klimas, Phone: 014730893, Email: ei.dcu@samilk.naj.
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv_insight
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