Pilot of a Brief, Web-Based Educational Intervention Targeting Safe Storage and Disposal of Prescription Opioids

Topics

Drug Disposal, Interventions, Storage, Unneeded prescriptions

Summary/Excerpts

At the time of this study, conducted in the early years of the opioid epidemic, a significant portion of misused opioids originated from authorized prescriptions. To help curb the epidemic, a brief, web-based educational tool was developed to address safe opioid use, storage, and disposal. Due to healthcare providers’ time constraints and other demands, this tool offers an efficient intervention option. The study demonstrated that such a web-based intervention could effectively improve patients’ knowledge and reduce misuse behaviors in healthcare settings.

Key Statistics

Before completing the intervention, more than half of participants were unaware of safe locations to properly store opioid medications or how to properly dispose of unused pills (54.8%).

The majority of participants were aware that using expired medications is not recommended (75.8%).

The majority of participants were aware that lending their medication to others is unsafe behavior (95.2%).

Patient intervention produced significant increases in knowledge regarding: (1) prescription storage (2) medication disposal; (3) borrowing pills from others; (4) saving unused opioid pills; and (5) using expired medications.

Citation

McCauley JL, Back SE, Brady KT. Pilot of a brief, web-based educational intervention targeting safe storage and disposal of prescription opioids. Addict Behav. 2013;38(6):2230–2235.

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