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Physician and Patient Survey of Taper Schedule and Family Physician Letters Following Discharged from the Acute Pain Service
Author(s) -
Friedman Zeev,
Arzola Cristian,
Postonogova Tetyana,
Malavade Archana,
Siddiqui Naveed T.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
pain practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1533-2500
pISSN - 1530-7085
DOI - 10.1111/papr.12457
Subject(s) - medicine , schedule , family medicine , patient satisfaction , likert scale , emergency medicine , medical emergency , physical therapy , nursing , operating system , statistics , mathematics , computer science
Purpose Following discharge, patients requiring high opioid doses may be at risk for both under‐ and overdosing, posing a major challenge to community physicians. The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness and degree of satisfaction with a personalized taper schedule and physician letter through interviews of patients and physicians. Methods This was a 1‐year prospective study. Following ethics approval and informed written consent, patients admitted for elective surgery, 18 to 60 years of age, receiving opioid analgesics, were recruited. Prior to discharge, the acute pain service team provided patients with a taper schedule explained in detail. Individualized physician letters were faxed to treating family physicians. Patients were contacted by phone 2, 4, and 6 weeks after discharge. Physicians were contacted once, a month after discharge. Patients and physicians were asked to grade the taper schedule on a 1‐ to 5‐point Likert scale. Questions pertained to clarity, usefulness, ability to follow the instructions, and general satisfaction. Results Twenty‐six patients and 21 physicians completed the study. Physicians were generally satisfied with both the taper schedule and letter and rated all aspects between 3.76 and 4.38 of 5. Similarly, patients were satisfied with the taper schedule and rated all aspects between 4.08 and 4.5. Conclusions Both physicians and patients generally found the taper schedule and letter helpful in assisting them to taper off their opioid use. This is one way of bridging the gap in continuity of care between the acute and primary care providers while reducing the risk to patients during the transition period.