Department of General Practice, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Department of General Practice, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
BMJ Open. 2021 Oct 22;11(10):e054044. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-054044.
We sought to explore physician perspectives on the prescribing of cannabinoids to patients to gain a deeper understanding of the issues faced by prescriber and public health advisors in the rollout of medicinal cannabis.
A thematic qualitative analysis of 21 in-depth interviews was undertaken to explore the narrative on the policy and practice of medicinal cannabis prescribing. The analysis used the Diffusion of Innovations (DoI) theoretical framework to model the conceptualisation of the rollout of medicinal cannabis in the Australian context.
Informants from the states and territories of Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory, and Queensland in Australia were invited to participate in interviews to explore the policy and practice of medicinal cannabis prescribing.
Participants included 21 prescribing and non-prescribing key informants working in the area of neurology, rheumatology, oncology, pain medicine, psychiatry, public health, and general practice.
There was an agreement among many informants that medicinal cannabis is, indeed, a pharmaceutical innovation. From the analysis of the informant interviews, the factors that facilitate the diffusion of medicinal cannabis into clincal practice include the adoption of appropriate regulation, the use of data to evaluate safety and efficacy, improved prescriber education, and the continuous monitoring of product quality and cost. Most informants asserted the widespread assimilation of medicinal cannabis into practice is impeded by a lack of health system antecedents that are required to facilitate safe, effective, and equitable access to medicinal cannabis as a therapeutic.
This research highlights the tensions that arise and the factors that influence the rollout of cannabis as an unregistered medicine. Addressing these factors is essential for the safe and effective prescribing in contemporary medical practice. The findings from this research provides important evidence on medicinal cannabis as a therapeutic, and also informs the rollout of potential novel therapeutics in the future.
我们旨在探讨医生对向患者开具大麻素处方的看法，以更深入地了解在推出药用大麻过程中处方医生和公共卫生顾问所面临的问题。
采用主题定性分析方法，对 21 次深入访谈进行分析，以探讨药用大麻处方政策和实践的叙述。该分析使用创新扩散（DoI）理论框架来模拟药用大麻在澳大利亚背景下推出的概念化。
邀请来自澳大利亚维多利亚州、新南威尔士州、塔斯马尼亚州、澳大利亚首都领地和昆士兰州的州和地区的信息提供者参加访谈，以探讨药用大麻处方的政策和实践。
参与者包括从事神经病学、风湿病学、肿瘤学、疼痛医学、精神病学、公共卫生和全科医学领域工作的 21 名处方和非处方主要信息提供者。
许多信息提供者一致认为，医用大麻确实是一种药物创新。通过对信息提供者访谈的分析，促进医用大麻进入临床实践的因素包括采用适当的监管、使用数据评估安全性和疗效、改善处方医生教育以及持续监测产品质量和成本。大多数信息提供者断言，由于缺乏促进安全、有效和公平获得医用大麻作为治疗药物所需的卫生系统前提，医用大麻广泛融入实践受到阻碍。
这项研究强调了出现的紧张局势和影响大麻作为非注册药物推出的因素。解决这些因素对于在当代医疗实践中安全有效地开具处方至关重要。这项研究的结果提供了关于医用大麻作为治疗药物的重要证据，并为未来推出潜在的新型治疗药物提供了信息。
