Awareness of Opioid Use for Pain Control among Healthcare Practitioners: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Objectives: To compile the recent literature's findings and shed light on knowledge of healthcare personnel about the use of opioids in pain management. Methods: A thorough search of pertinent databases was done in order to find studies that satisfied the requirements for inclusion. A thorough search of PubMed, Web of Science, SCOPUS, and Science Direct was conducted to find pertinent literature. Results: Ten studies, including a total of 58,234 participants and 21,769 (37.4%) of them were females, were included in our data. There were notable differences found between the clinical skills of physicians in managing pain and prescribing opioids and their self-perceived knowledge in these areas. Many studies reported that nearly half of the participants had poor knowledge about using opioids for pain management. Physicians with higher clinical knowledge ratings prescribed fewer opioids. Only two studies reported that professionals with advanced degrees were found to have a sufficient level of understanding regarding pain and opiate use. Conclusion: This study demonstrated a lack of and insufficient knowledge about opioids on pain management among healthcare personnel. Prospective investigations ought to concentrate on crafting customized instructional curricula and decision-assistance instruments for primary care practitioners, as well as analyzing the influence of interdisciplinary pain treatment groups on patient results.