We wanted to know what General Practitioners’ (GP) views and experiences of opioid addiction, overdose care and naloxone provision are. Naloxone is an antidote to opioid overdose, also known as Narcan.
How was the study done?
We sent 448 GPs an anonymous postal survey.
They all had students on placements from University College Dublin in Ireland.
Over 75% of GPs had patients who used illicit opiates, and 25% prescribed methadone to treat opioid use disorders.
What did the study find?
We found that two thirds of GPs were in favour of a project to increase naloxone availability in the community; almost one third would take part in such a scheme. Intranasal naloxone was much preferred to single, or multiple dose, intramuscular naloxone. Few GPs objected to wider naloxone availability.
Irish primary care doctors are keen to distribute Naloxone in the community.
Why is the study important?
Every year, more people die in Ireland due to opioid overdoses than in car accidents.
Over 200 overdose deaths occur annually in Ireland. Overdose prevention and management, including naloxone provision, should be a priority for healthcare services. Naloxone is an effective treatment and is now being considered for wider lay use. This study showed that general practitioners commonly provide healthcare for patients with opiate use disorder and want more naloxone in this setting.
Reference:
Barry, T., Klimas, J., Tobin, H., Egan, M., Bury, G. (2017) Opiate Addiction and Overdose: Experiences, Attitudes and Appetite for Community Naloxone Provision. British Journal of General Practice. In press http://bjgp.org/content/early/2017/02/27/bjgp17X689857/tab-article-info