College of Osteopathic Medicine, Rocky Vista University, Englewood, CO, USA.
Biomedical Sciences Department, Rocky Vista University, Englewood, CO, USA.
Harm Reduct J. 2024 Aug 24;21(1):155. doi: 10.1186/s12954-024-01066-y.
Overdose prevention sites (OPS) are a harm reduction strategy that offer people who use drugs a variety of resources including but not limited to sterile supplies, linkage to healthcare resources, and intervention if an overdose occurs. OPS operate in over 120 countries and evidence has demonstrated they are an effective harm reduction strategy. Despite their success elsewhere, OPS remain federally illegal in the United States and thus there is limited research on their implementation and outcomes in the United States. This study aimed to identify Colorado healthcare providers' knowledge and attitudes about OPS and determine if there is a correlation between healthcare providers with more knowledge about OPS having a more positive attitude about OPS.
An electronic survey was distributed to healthcare providers in Colorado. Responses were collected in early 2022 and recorded on a 5-point Likert scale. Mean scores between 1 and 5 were calculated for each participant and analysis of variance methods were used to determine correlating demographic factors. A p value of ≤ 0.05 was used to determine statistical significance of all findings.
This study included 698 participants. A Pearson correlation analysis revealed a strong positive relationship (r = 0.76, p < 0.0001) between provider knowledge and attitudes about OPS. Emergency medicine providers scored the highest in mean knowledge and attitude scores in comparison to all other specialties. Respondents affiliated with a harm reduction center exhibited the highest mean knowledge and attitude scores. Mean knowledge and attitude scores generally rose with respondents' increasing encounters with people who inject drugs in a typical workday, except when reaching nine or more encounters, where a sharp decline occurred.
Our study highlights the importance of education, exposure to harm reduction strategies, and inter-specialty collaboration in shaping healthcare providers' knowledge and attitudes about OPS. The positive correlation between providers' knowledge and attitudes about OPS suggests that educating healthcare providers on harm reduction strategies, specifically OPS, may lead to reduced stigmatization of OPS among healthcare professionals.
过量预防场所（OPS）是一种减少伤害的策略，为使用毒品的人提供各种资源，包括但不限于无菌用品、与医疗保健资源的联系，以及在发生过量时的干预。OPS 在 120 多个国家开展业务，有证据表明它们是一种有效的减少伤害的策略。尽管在其他地方取得了成功，但 OPS 在美国仍然是联邦非法的，因此在美国，关于它们的实施和结果的研究有限。本研究旨在确定科罗拉多州医疗保健提供者对 OPS 的知识和态度，并确定医疗保健提供者对 OPS 的了解程度与对 OPS 的态度之间是否存在相关性。
向科罗拉多州的医疗保健提供者分发了一份电子调查。在 2022 年初收集了答复，并记录在 5 点李克特量表上。为每个参与者计算了 1 到 5 之间的平均分数，并使用方差分析方法确定了相关的人口统计学因素。所有发现的统计显著性均使用 p 值≤0.05 来确定。
本研究包括 698 名参与者。皮尔逊相关分析显示，提供者对 OPS 的知识和态度之间存在很强的正相关关系（r=0.76，p<0.0001）。与所有其他专业相比，急诊医学提供者在知识和态度得分方面得分最高。与减少伤害中心有关联的受访者表现出最高的平均知识和态度得分。平均知识和态度得分随着受访者在典型工作日与注射毒品者的接触次数的增加而普遍上升，除了接触次数达到 9 次或更多次时，得分急剧下降。
我们的研究强调了教育、接触减少伤害策略以及专业间合作在塑造医疗保健提供者对 OPS 的知识和态度方面的重要性。提供者对 OPS 的知识和态度之间的正相关关系表明，对医疗保健提供者进行减少伤害策略的教育，特别是 OPS，可能会减少医疗保健专业人员对 OPS 的污名化。
