Department of Family Medicine, The Ohio State University, 2231 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43201, USA.
Pain Pract. 2013 Feb;13(2):104-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1533-2500.2012.00568.x. Epub 2012 Jun 4.
The terms "opioid" and "narcotic" are often used interchangeably by healthcare providers. The purpose of this study was to compare understanding "narcotics" vs. "opioids."
A convenience sample of English-speaking women (n = 188), aged 21-45 years, seeking care at a primary care clinic were asked (1) "What is an opioid/narcotic?" (2) "Give an example of an opioid/narcotic?" (3) "Why does someone take an opioid/narcotic?" and (4) "What happens when someone takes an opioid/narcotic for a long time?" Responses were recorded verbatim by a research assistant and then coded independently by two investigators.
More than half of respondents (55.9%) responded "don't know" to all 4 opioid questions, while just 3.2% responded "don't know" to all 4 narcotic questions (P < 0.01). Most women were unfamiliar with the term opioid (76.3%) and did not know why someone would take an opioid (68.8%). About two-thirds of respondents were able to give an example of a narcotic (64.2%) and knew the consequences of long-term narcotic use (63.2%).
While more women were more familiar with narcotic, many identified negative connotations with this term. Future research should explore how to improve patient understanding and attitudes regarding both the terms opioids and narcotics.
医疗保健提供者经常互换使用“阿片类药物”和“麻醉性镇痛药”这两个术语。本研究的目的是比较对“麻醉性镇痛药”和“阿片类药物”的理解。
在一家初级保健诊所就诊的 21-45 岁的英语女性（n=188）中采用便利抽样法，被问到以下四个问题：（1）“阿片类药物/麻醉性镇痛药是什么？”（2）“举一个阿片类药物/麻醉性镇痛药的例子？”（3）“为什么有人会服用阿片类药物/麻醉性镇痛药？”和（4）“当一个人长期服用阿片类药物/麻醉性镇痛药时会发生什么？”研究助理将回答逐字记录下来，然后由两名调查员独立进行编码。
超过一半的受访者（55.9%）对所有 4 个阿片类药物问题的回答都是“不知道”，而只有 3.2%的受访者对所有 4 个麻醉性镇痛药问题的回答是“不知道”（P<0.01）。大多数女性不熟悉阿片类药物（76.3%），也不知道为什么有人会服用阿片类药物（68.8%）。大约三分之二的受访者能够举出一个麻醉性镇痛药的例子（64.2%），并且知道长期使用麻醉性镇痛药的后果（63.2%）。
虽然更多的女性对麻醉性镇痛药比较熟悉，但许多人对这个术语有负面的联想。未来的研究应该探讨如何改善患者对阿片类药物和麻醉性镇痛药这两个术语的理解和态度。
