Evaluation of Pharmacy Students' Perception of Opioid / Opiate Dependence

NCT03859778 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: CHU-427
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 2,034
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The pharmacist in his professional activity may have to manage opioid dependent patients. This professional activity will result in the provision of opioid substitution treatment (OST), single-use syringes, harm reduction kits and a prevention advice for the reduction of toxicity and infection risks. Since the 1990s, the consumption of OST has been steadily increasing. According to the OFDT (French Observatory of Drugs and Drug Addiction), the number of patients under OST is about 150 000 patients. Since high-dose buprenorphine is prescribed for approximately two-thirds of patients, it remains the most frequently prescribed OST in France. Recently, a French association assisting drug users (ASUD - Auto-support des usagers de drogues) performed a study in Paris (20/07/2018 - 25/08/2018) to assess the delivery of opioid replacement therapies by community pharmacists. In this study, 71% of pharmacists refused to deliver opioid replacement therapies. The main reasons reported were security (56%) and activity saturation, meaning that pharmacists considered that they had too many patients using opioid drugs. In France, the refusal of a pharmacist to deliver drugs is a punishable offence. According to the Code of ethics of pharmacists, pharmacists must respect life and people without discrimination. Pharmacists have a low perception of patients suffering from opioid addiction. Another study performed by ASUD in 93 community pharmacies, showed that pharmacists used the term "toxicomaniacs" instead of "drug users". Most pharmacists had had a bad experience with drugs users, with physical and verbal aggressions. The conclusions of this study showed that pharmacists lacked knowledge of drug users and drug use. Pharmacists knew about harm reduction kits for opioid users (containing sterile syringes, needles, water, antiseptics, etc.) and had already opened them, but very few knew how to use them. More worryingly, some pharmacists did not understand the harm reduction strategies available It thus appears that community pharmacists have a difficult relationship with opioid-dependent patients, even though these pharmacists have received education in the management of addictions during their studies. Indeed, it can consider that these courses should help to better understand the addictive disease both in its nosological / semiological and therapeutic components. Thus, it would be interesting to evaluate the impact of addiction education on pharmacists' perception of opioid dependence. In this perspective, it would be interesting to focus on pharmacy students. The objective of this study will be to evaluate the perception by pharmacy students of opioid dependent patients. Investigator would like to know if pharmacy students consider opioid addiction to be an illness and whether having taken education on drug use and addictions changes this perception.

Conditions

Opioid-Related Disorders

Keywords

Opioid-Related Disorders; student; Community Pharmacy Services

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Perception of opioid / opiate dependence as a disease

  visual analogic scale: -10 (it is not a disease), 0 (neutral) and +10(it is a disease)

  At day 1

Secondary Outcomes (17)

• Proportion of courses on drug addiction during pharmacy studies

  At day 1

• Study year of courses on drug addiction during pharmacy studies

  At day 1

• Perception of the pharmacist's missions on the dispensing of opioid substitution treatments (buprenorphine and methadone) and harm reduction kit / single use syringe

  At day 1

• Perception of the efficacy of opioid substitution treatments (buprenorphine and methadone)

  At day 1

• Proportion of realization of internships or temporary employment in pharmacy

  At day 1

Study Arms (1)

pharmacy students

Other: survey

Interventions

survey OTHER

French pharmacy students will be contacted by email thanks to the student associations and scolarity departments. Answer to the survey will be done online

pharmacy students

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

French pharmacy students

You may qualify if:

• French pharmacy students

You may not qualify if:

• Age \<18 years
• Other health students
• Graduated pharmacist
• First year pharmacy student

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University Hospital, Clermont-Ferrand: lead
• UFR Pharmacie (Clermont-Ferrand): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Chu Clermont-Ferrand

Clermont-Ferrand, 63003, France

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Opioid-Related Disorders

Interventions

Surveys and Questionnaires

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Narcotic-Related Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Mental Disorders

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Data Collection; Epidemiologic Methods; Investigative Techniques; Health Care Evaluation Mechanisms; Quality of Health Care; Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation; Public Health; Environment and Public Health

Study Officials

• David BALAYSSAC

  University Hospital, Clermont-Ferrand

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 21, 2019
• First Posted: March 1, 2019
• Study Start: January 14, 2019
• Primary Completion: March 31, 2019
• Study Completion: March 31, 2019
• Last Updated: May 24, 2019

Record last verified: 2019-02

Locations

FR (1)