Cancer Patients' Perceived Difficulties Filling Opioid Prescriptions After Receiving Outpatient Supportive Care

Jessica H. Brown; Hilda P. Torres; Rama D. Maddi; Janet L. Williams; Seyedeh S. Dibaj; Diane Liu; Eduardo Bruera

doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.06.015

Cancer Patients' Perceived Difficulties Filling Opioid Prescriptions After Receiving Outpatient Supportive Care

Jessica H. Brown, Hilda P. Torres, Rama D. Maddi, Janet L. Williams, Seyedeh S. Dibaj, Diane Liu, Eduardo Bruera

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Context: Limited access to opioids for patients with cancer has been reported as a potential unintended consequence of recent regulations restricting opioid use and prescribing practices. To our knowledge, there are a limited number of peer-reviewed studies that evaluate the perceived difficulties of the patients with cancer when filling their opioid prescription. To understand these difficulties, we surveyed patients receiving opioids in our outpatient supportive care center (SCC). Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate cancer patients' perceptions of overall difficulties when filling their opioid prescription. Secondary objectives included determining associations between patient characteristics and difficulty and comparing difficulty between filling opioid and nonopioid prescriptions. Methods: Patients with cancer receiving opioids that had been seen two times or more at our SCC were asked to complete a survey. The information collected included patient demographics, clinical characteristics, and patients' experiences filling their opioid prescription. Results: The patients' median age was 60 years; 54% were female and 69% were white. Forty-four patients (32%) reported that they have experienced difficulty filling their opioid prescription. More than 25% of those 44 patients perceived difficulty from interactions with the pharmacy and/or pharmacist. Forty-six patients (33%) reported more difficulty filling their opioid prescriptions than filling their nonopioid prescriptions. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that patients with cancer visiting our SCC perceived difficulties obtaining their opioid prescriptions. The results suggest that negative interactions with the pharmacy and/or pharmacist contribute to their perceived difficulty. Additional research is needed to further characterize the contributors of the difficulties patients with cancer face in filling their opioid prescriptions.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	915-922
Number of pages	8
Journal	Journal of pain and symptom management
Volume	60
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.06.015
State	Published - Nov 2020

Keywords

Analgesics
cancer pain
opioid
opioid epidemic
pain management
palliative care
prescriptions

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Nursing
Clinical Neurology
Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine

MD Anderson CCSG core facilities

Biostatistics Resource Group

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10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.06.015

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@article{ba22ca4223a14584b7bfee7818972c90,

title = "Cancer Patients' Perceived Difficulties Filling Opioid Prescriptions After Receiving Outpatient Supportive Care",

abstract = "Context: Limited access to opioids for patients with cancer has been reported as a potential unintended consequence of recent regulations restricting opioid use and prescribing practices. To our knowledge, there are a limited number of peer-reviewed studies that evaluate the perceived difficulties of the patients with cancer when filling their opioid prescription. To understand these difficulties, we surveyed patients receiving opioids in our outpatient supportive care center (SCC). Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate cancer patients' perceptions of overall difficulties when filling their opioid prescription. Secondary objectives included determining associations between patient characteristics and difficulty and comparing difficulty between filling opioid and nonopioid prescriptions. Methods: Patients with cancer receiving opioids that had been seen two times or more at our SCC were asked to complete a survey. The information collected included patient demographics, clinical characteristics, and patients' experiences filling their opioid prescription. Results: The patients' median age was 60 years; 54% were female and 69% were white. Forty-four patients (32%) reported that they have experienced difficulty filling their opioid prescription. More than 25% of those 44 patients perceived difficulty from interactions with the pharmacy and/or pharmacist. Forty-six patients (33%) reported more difficulty filling their opioid prescriptions than filling their nonopioid prescriptions. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that patients with cancer visiting our SCC perceived difficulties obtaining their opioid prescriptions. The results suggest that negative interactions with the pharmacy and/or pharmacist contribute to their perceived difficulty. Additional research is needed to further characterize the contributors of the difficulties patients with cancer face in filling their opioid prescriptions.",

keywords = "Analgesics, cancer pain, opioid, opioid epidemic, pain management, palliative care, prescriptions",

author = "Brown, {Jessica H.} and Torres, {Hilda P.} and Maddi, {Rama D.} and Williams, {Janet L.} and Dibaj, {Seyedeh S.} and Diane Liu and Eduardo Bruera",

note = "Funding Information: This research was supported in part by a National Institutes of Health Cancer Center support grant ( P30CA016672 ) for the Biostatistics Resource Group and a National Institutes of Health Clinical and Translational Science Award ( 1UL1TR003167-01 ). The authors are grateful to all respondents who completed the surveys. The authors also thank Aimee Anderson, PhD, for her editorial assistance and Nwabunie Nwana for her assistance with the survey. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020",

year = "2020",

month = nov,

doi = "10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.06.015",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "60",

pages = "915--922",

journal = "Journal of pain and symptom management",

issn = "0885-3924",

publisher = "Elsevier Inc.",

number = "5",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Cancer Patients' Perceived Difficulties Filling Opioid Prescriptions After Receiving Outpatient Supportive Care

AU - Brown, Jessica H.

AU - Torres, Hilda P.

AU - Maddi, Rama D.

AU - Williams, Janet L.

AU - Dibaj, Seyedeh S.

AU - Liu, Diane

AU - Bruera, Eduardo

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported in part by a National Institutes of Health Cancer Center support grant ( P30CA016672 ) for the Biostatistics Resource Group and a National Institutes of Health Clinical and Translational Science Award ( 1UL1TR003167-01 ). The authors are grateful to all respondents who completed the surveys. The authors also thank Aimee Anderson, PhD, for her editorial assistance and Nwabunie Nwana for her assistance with the survey. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Publisher Copyright: © 2020

PY - 2020/11

Y1 - 2020/11

N2 - Context: Limited access to opioids for patients with cancer has been reported as a potential unintended consequence of recent regulations restricting opioid use and prescribing practices. To our knowledge, there are a limited number of peer-reviewed studies that evaluate the perceived difficulties of the patients with cancer when filling their opioid prescription. To understand these difficulties, we surveyed patients receiving opioids in our outpatient supportive care center (SCC). Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate cancer patients' perceptions of overall difficulties when filling their opioid prescription. Secondary objectives included determining associations between patient characteristics and difficulty and comparing difficulty between filling opioid and nonopioid prescriptions. Methods: Patients with cancer receiving opioids that had been seen two times or more at our SCC were asked to complete a survey. The information collected included patient demographics, clinical characteristics, and patients' experiences filling their opioid prescription. Results: The patients' median age was 60 years; 54% were female and 69% were white. Forty-four patients (32%) reported that they have experienced difficulty filling their opioid prescription. More than 25% of those 44 patients perceived difficulty from interactions with the pharmacy and/or pharmacist. Forty-six patients (33%) reported more difficulty filling their opioid prescriptions than filling their nonopioid prescriptions. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that patients with cancer visiting our SCC perceived difficulties obtaining their opioid prescriptions. The results suggest that negative interactions with the pharmacy and/or pharmacist contribute to their perceived difficulty. Additional research is needed to further characterize the contributors of the difficulties patients with cancer face in filling their opioid prescriptions.

AB - Context: Limited access to opioids for patients with cancer has been reported as a potential unintended consequence of recent regulations restricting opioid use and prescribing practices. To our knowledge, there are a limited number of peer-reviewed studies that evaluate the perceived difficulties of the patients with cancer when filling their opioid prescription. To understand these difficulties, we surveyed patients receiving opioids in our outpatient supportive care center (SCC). Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate cancer patients' perceptions of overall difficulties when filling their opioid prescription. Secondary objectives included determining associations between patient characteristics and difficulty and comparing difficulty between filling opioid and nonopioid prescriptions. Methods: Patients with cancer receiving opioids that had been seen two times or more at our SCC were asked to complete a survey. The information collected included patient demographics, clinical characteristics, and patients' experiences filling their opioid prescription. Results: The patients' median age was 60 years; 54% were female and 69% were white. Forty-four patients (32%) reported that they have experienced difficulty filling their opioid prescription. More than 25% of those 44 patients perceived difficulty from interactions with the pharmacy and/or pharmacist. Forty-six patients (33%) reported more difficulty filling their opioid prescriptions than filling their nonopioid prescriptions. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that patients with cancer visiting our SCC perceived difficulties obtaining their opioid prescriptions. The results suggest that negative interactions with the pharmacy and/or pharmacist contribute to their perceived difficulty. Additional research is needed to further characterize the contributors of the difficulties patients with cancer face in filling their opioid prescriptions.

KW - Analgesics

KW - cancer pain

KW - opioid

KW - opioid epidemic

KW - pain management

KW - palliative care

KW - prescriptions

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DO - 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.06.015

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SN - 0885-3924

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JO - Journal of pain and symptom management

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Cancer Patients' Perceived Difficulties Filling Opioid Prescriptions After Receiving Outpatient Supportive Care

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

MD Anderson CCSG core facilities

Access to Document

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