Evaluation of a physician communication resource to educate patients on the risks of driving when prescribed pain medication
Author(s): Robertson, Woods-Fry, Carr, Valentine, Mainegra Hing, Vanlaar
Poster Presentation:
Abstract:
Background:
The potential effects of prescription medication on driving is a growing concern for road safety. Some drug classes with the potential to impair driving include stimulants, opioids, benzodiazepines, other central nervous system (CNS) depressants, antihistamines, antiemetics, and cold and flu medications. However, very few studies have been conducted to help identify effective strategies to address the driving risks associated with the use of prescription drugs.
Aims:
To evaluate a communication resource to help prescribing health care professionals (HCPs) talk to patients about the driving risks when prescribing pain medication.
Methods:
The communication resource was developed through a literature review and focus groups with HCPs (N=27) and patients (N=16). The resource consists of a Smartphone App for HCPs which was pilot tested with HCPs (N=9) prior to this evaluation. An experimental design with patients exposed to the intervention with the App (N=43) and patients not exposed to the intervention (N=31) was used to evaluate the impact of the resource, and to assess: (1) if patients in the experimental group after the intervention are better informed about impairing risks of their medication than patients in the control group; (2) if patients in the experimental group held safer beliefs after the intervention; and (3) if patients in the experimental group plan to adapt their behaviour in accordance with increased knowledge.
Results:
Logistic regressions analyses examining the effect of group by time were conducted for the three variables of interest. Evaluation of patient knowledge about the side effects of their prescribed pain medication demonstrated that the odds of reporting that you are more informed after receiving the intervention in the experimental group is 34% greater than participants in the control group who did not receive an intervention (OR: 1.34 p=.69). Evaluation of patient beliefs about the effects of prescribed pain medication on driving revealed that the odds of reporting that is it safe to drive when first taking prescription pain medication after receiving the intervention in the experimental group decreased by 63% in the experimental group when compared to those in the control group (OR: .37 p=.56). Evaluation of patient driving behaviours when taking prescribed pain medication showed that the odds of driving within two hours of taking prescribed pain medication decreased by 46% for participants in the experimental group when compared to those in the control group (OR: .54 p=.44).
Discussion:
Preliminary analysis results are promising, but not significant. More in-depth analyses will be conducted to determine if additional variables demonstrate significant relationships with patient knowledge or behaviour about the risks of using pain medication and driving.
Conclusions:
Preliminary results from the outcome evaluation suggest that patients who are exposed to the intervention are better informed about the risks of driving while using prescription pain medication, hold safer beliefs, and are more likely to adopt protective behaviours than patients who were not exposed to the intervention. More in depth analyses will be conducted and may reveal significant relationships between other variables of interest.