Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: May 19, 2023
Date Accepted: Aug 7, 2023
Healthcare Provider Stigma Towards Patients with Substance Use Disorders: Protocol for a Nationally Representative Survey (CTN0104)
ABSTRACT
Background:
The United States overdose epidemic is an escalating public health emergency, accounting for over 100,000 deaths annually. Despite the availability of medications for opioid use disorder, provider-level barriers exacerbate the treatment gap in clinical care settings. Assessing the prevalence and intensity of provider stigma, defined as the negative perceptions and behaviors that providers embody and enact towards patients with substance use disorders, across providers with different specialties is critical to expanding the delivery of substance use treatment.
Objective:
To thoroughly understand provider stigma towards patients with substance use disorders, we conducted a nationwide survey of emergency medicine and primary care physicians and dentists with a questionnaire designed to reveal how widely and intensely provider attitudes and stigma can impact these providers’ practices in caring for these patients.
Methods:
Our survey was administered to a national representative sample of primary care physicians, emergency medicine physicians, and dentists (N = 3,011) obtained by a licensee of the American Medical and American Dental Association based on specified selection criteria. Data collection followed a recommended series of contacts with participants per Dillman’s Total Design Method, with mixed modality options offered (email, mail, fax, phone). The primary outcome, provider stigma, was measured using the Medical Condition Regard Scale, which inquired about participants’ views towards substance use as well as other chronic conditions.
Results:
Data collection was completed between October 2020 – October 2022 with an overall Council of American Survey Research Organizations completion rate of 53.58%.
Conclusions:
With systematically quantified data on the prevalence and intensity of provider stigma towards substance use disorders in healthcare, we can provide evidence-based improvement strategies and policy to inform the development and implementation of stigma-reduction interventions for providers to address their perceptions and treatment of substance use. Clinical Trial: n/a
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