scholarly journals Communication between healthcare providers and medical cannabis patients regarding referral and medication substitution

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin F. Boehnke ◽  
Evangelos Litinas ◽  
Brianna Worthing ◽  
Lisa Conine ◽  
Daniel J. Kruger

Abstract Background People report using cannabis as a substitute for prescription medications but may be doing so without the knowledge of their primary health care providers (PCPs). This lack of integration creates serious concerns, e.g., using cannabis to treat medical conditions that have established treatment options. Methods We conducted an anonymous, cross-sectional online survey among patrons of a medical cannabis dispensary in Michigan (n = 275) to examine aspects of their relationship with their PCP and their perceptions of PCP knowledge related to cannabis. Results Overall, 64% of participants initiated medical cannabis use based on their own experiences vs. 24% citing advice from their PCP. Although 80% reported that their PCP knew they currently used medical cannabis, 41% reported that their PCP had not always known. Only 14% obtained their medical cannabis authorization from their PCP. Only 18% of participants rated their PCP’s knowledge about medical cannabis as very good or excellent and only 21% were very or completely confident in their PCP’s ability to integrate medical cannabis into their treatment. Although 86% had substituted cannabis for pharmaceutical medications, 69% (n = 134) of those who substituted reported some gap in their PCP’s knowledge of their substitution, and 44% (n = 86) reported that their PCP was currently unaware of their substitution. Conclusions Patients frequently substitute cannabis for prescription drugs, often without PCP knowledge. Although most participants disclosed cannabis use to their PCP, their perceptions of PCP knowledge ranged widely and many obtained medical cannabis licensure from an outside physician. Our results highlight the need for standardized physician education around appropriate medical cannabis use.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emad Aborajooh ◽  
Mohammed Qussay Al-Sabbagh ◽  
Baraa Mafrachi ◽  
Muhammad Yassin ◽  
Rami Dwairi ◽  
...  

UNSTRUCTURED We aimed to measure levels of knowledge, awareness, and stress about COVID-19 among health care providers (HCP) in Jordan. This was a cross-sectional study on 397 HCPs that utilized an internet-based questionnaire to evaluate knowledge about COVID-19, availability of personal protective equipment (PEE), future perception, and psychological distress. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate factors associated with knowledge and psychological stress. Overall, 24.4% and 21.2% of the participants showed excellent knowledge and poor knowledge, respectively. Social media (61.7%) was the most commonly used source of information. Being female (β= 0.521, 95% CI 0.049 to 0.992), physician (β=1.421, 95% CI 0.849 to 1.992), or using literature to gain knowledge (β= 1.161, 95% CI 0.657 to 1.664) were positive predictors of higher knowledge. While having higher stress (β= -0.854, 95% CI -1.488 to -0.221) and using social media (β= -0.434, 95% CI -0.865 to -0.003) or conventional media (β= -0.884, 95% CI -1.358 to -0.409) for information were negative predictors of knowledge levels. HCPs are advised to use the literature as a source of information about the virus, its transmission, and the best practice. PPEs should be secured for HCPs to the psychological stress associated with treating COVID-19 patients.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismat Babiker ◽  
Mohamed K. Elnaeim ◽  
Awab K.Elnaeim

Abstract Objective: the objective of this study was to assess the awareness of the community in Sudan of which seizure type(s) should present to health care providers.Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive internet-based survey that was conducted in Sudan during the period from January to April 2018, using google forms. The survey consisted of demographic data (age, gender, educational level), a statement evaluating participants’ sources of obtaining information regarding epilepsy, a statement assessing awareness about the primary care provider for people with epilepsy (PWE), and a statement describing the symptomatology of different seizure types in simple Arabic, asking what description(s) participants thought should present to health care providers. We included participants residing in Sudan, and those with a college degree or higher education. Four hundred sixty-seven participants completed the survey.Results: 467 participants were included, of whom, 279 (60%) were females. The mean age of participants was 28 years. Two-thirds of participants obtained their information from non-scientific sources. 84% of the participants were aware that doctors are the primary health care providers for people with epilepsy.The majority (92.%) of participants were aware that patients with symptoms corresponding to the generalized tonic-clonic seizure description should present to doctors, compared with two-thirds of participants for focal seizure symptom description, and only 30.6 % of participants for absence seizure symptom description.Conclusion: This study demonstrated poor awareness about the necessity of presentation for focal and absence seizures. We hypothesize that this lack of awareness may contribute to the epilepsy treatment gap, and we recommend further studies to examine this hypothesis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mansoor Ahmed ◽  
Hyea Bin Im ◽  
Jung Hye Hwang ◽  
Dongwoon Han

Abstract Background Pregnant women’s disclosure of herbal medicine (HM) use to their health care providers during pregnancy is crucial, as misuse of HM can have a detrimental effect on both pregnant woman and the fetus. However, the lack of disclosure of HM use to physicians remains a public health concern in developing countries such as Nepal. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 postpartum women admitted at Maternity and Women’s Hospital located in Kathmandu, Nepal. The survey instrument included 30 questions on the use of HM during pregnancy, sociodemographic and health characteristics, and pregnancy outcomes. Chi-square test and logistic regression were conducted for data analysis using SPSS ver. 21.0., and a p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant for all analyses. Results 60.3% of respondents used at least one herbal remedy during their previous pregnancy, and the overall disclosure rate of HM use to healthcare providers was 54.6%. Women with secondary education level and four or more antenatal care visits were more likely to disclose their HM use to healthcare providers. Conclusions This study highlights that despite the popular use of HM among pregnant women in Nepal, most women obtained HM-related information from informal sources and did not disclose their HM use to physicians. To ensure the safe use of HM, physicians should integrate questions regarding patients’ HM use into their routine patient assessments to facilitate active communication and improve the quality of care.


2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 351-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline M. Smith ◽  
Joel Mader ◽  
Andrew C. H. Szeto ◽  
Amelia M. Arria ◽  
Ken C. Winters ◽  
...  

Objective: The study sought to describe a Canadian sample of university students’ medicinal use of cannabis, including prevalence of cannabis use disorder (CUD) and replacement of traditional treatments with cannabis. Method: A random sample of 4000 university students was asked to complete a cross-sectional web-based survey. The survey was completed by 2212 (average age 23.2 years, SD = 5.2 years), representing a 55.3% response rate. To be eligible, students had to be enrolled in a class on campus and were 18 years or older. Result: Half (52%) of respondents used cannabis at least once in their lifetime, with ∼11% reporting medicinal cannabis use. Recreational motives to use cannabis were common among medicinal users (85%), several (38%) replaced traditional medication with cannabis, and more than a third received authorization by a health care provider. Of the medicinal users, 13.6% met the criteria for CUD. Common ailments for medicinal cannabis use were anxiety, sleep problems, depression, and pain. When mental health–related categories are combined, 78.2% of medicinal users used for at least 1 mental health condition. Conclusions: Medicinal cannabis use occurs among university students. None of the ailments listed by medicinal users meet the Canadian Family Physicians prescribing guidelines, and most are not among those viewed by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine as having strong evidence for therapeutic value. The results raise concerns for health care providers who are authorizing or counselling patients’ considering medicinal cannabis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-77
Author(s):  
Aadil Ameer Ali ◽  
Noman Haq ◽  
Muhammad Rafiq ◽  
Amjad Hussain ◽  
Muhammad Ismail ◽  
...  

This observational study was conducted to assess the attitude, knowledge and practices of health-care providers in context of novel corona virus or COvid-19 in Pakistan. A cross sectional survey has been conducted among the physicians, dentists, physiotherapists, pharmacists and nurses in a number of medical and health related facilities of Pakistan from April to June 2020. A self-constructed questionnaire was used among the 277 health care providers and SPSS version 23 was used to analyze the data. Male participants constituted 55.6% (n=154) of the total sample size. However, 91% of total participants aged between 23 to 33 years (n=252). In addition to this 71% participants were unmarried. In academic perspective 74.4% of the candidates were graduates and most of them were MBBS. Around 46.6 % people were permanent residents of Sindh while others belong to different regions of the country. Assessment revealed of knowledge, attitude and practice results showed that the great majority i.e. 96% (n=266) of the healthcare providers had adequate knowledge with respect to Covid-19. Moreover, 59.2% people (n=164) demonstrated positive attitude towards covid-19. Contrastingly, practices of a large number of healthcare providers were not found appropriate that makes up to 57.4% (n=159). The study concluded that the health care providers working in Pakistan have good knowledge and positive attitude towards covid-19, whereas the practice of Pakistani health care providers needs serious attention, because the results reveled the practice is below the mark.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina L. Alfieri ◽  
Jennifer D. Kusma ◽  
Nia Heard-Garris ◽  
Matthew M. Davis ◽  
Emily Golbeck ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective To compare hesitancy toward a future COVID-19 vaccine for children of various sociodemographic groups in a major metropolitan area, and to understand how parents obtain information about COVID-19. Methods Cross-sectional online survey of parents with children < 18 years old in Chicago and Cook County, Illinois, in June 2020. We used logistic regression to determine the odds of parental COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy (VH) for racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups, controlling for sociodemographic factors and the sources where parents obtain information regarding COVID-19. Results Surveys were received from 1702 parents and 1425 were included in analyses. Overall, 33% of parents reported VH for their child. COVID-19 VH was higher among non-Hispanic Black parents compared with non-Hispanic White parents (Odds Ratio (OR) 2.65, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): (1.99–3.53), parents of publicly insured children compared with privately insured (OR 1.93, (1.53–2.42)) and among lower income groups. Parents receive information about COVID-19 from a variety of sources, and those who report using family, internet and health care providers as information sources (compared to those who don’t use each respective source) had lower odds of COVID-19 VH for their children. Conclusions The highest rates of hesitancy toward a future COVID-19 vaccine were found in demographic groups that have been the most severely affected by the pandemic. These groups may require targeted outreach efforts from trusted sources of information in order to promote equitable uptake of a future COVID-19 vaccine.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Lintzeris ◽  
Llewellyn Mills ◽  
Anastasia Suraev ◽  
Maria Bravo ◽  
Thomas Arkell ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: In 2016 the Australian federal government passed legislation enabling a range of cannabis-based products to be prescribed to patients by registered healthcare professionals. An online survey conducted immediately prior to these legislative changes found that the vast majority of respondents at the time were illicitly sourcing cannabis plant matter, smoking was the preferred route of administration, and mental health, chronic pain, and sleep conditions were the most frequently cited reasons for medical cannabis use. This manuscript reports the results of a follow-up survey conducted in 2018-2019, the Cannabis As Medicine Survey (CAMS-18). The goal of this second questionnaire was to examine patterns of use and consumer perspectives regarding medical cannabis use in Australia, two years after the introduction of legal access pathways. Methods: Anonymous online cross-sectional survey with convenience sample, recruited mainly through online media between September 2018 and March 2019. Participants were adults (18 years or over) residing in Australia who reported using a cannabis product for self-identified therapeutic reasons during the preceding 12 months. The survey measured consumer characteristics; indications and patterns of medical cannabis use; routes and frequency of administration; perceived benefits and harms; experiences and preferred models of access to medical cannabis. Results: Data were available for 1388 respondents. The main categories of condition being treated with medical cannabis were pain (36.4%), mental health (32.8%), sleep (9.2%), neurological (5.2%) and cancer (3.8%). Respondents reported using medical cannabis on 15.8 (11.2) days in the past 28, by inhaled (71.4%) or oral (26.5%) routes and spending AUD$82.27 ($101.27) per week. There were high levels of self-reported effectiveness, but also high rates of side effects. There was uncertainty regarding the composition of illicit cannabinoid products and concerns regarding their possible contamination. Few respondents (2.7%) had accessed legally prescribed medical cannabis, with the main perceived barriers being cost, disinterest from the medical profession, and stigma regarding cannabis use. Conclusions: Chronic pain, mental health and sleep remain the main clinical conditions for which consumers report using medical cannabis. Despite two years of legal availability, most consumers in Australia reported accessing illicit cannabis products, with uncertainty regarding the quality or composition of cannabis products.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gamil Ghaleb Alrubaiee ◽  
Talal Ali Hussein Al-Qalah ◽  
Mohammed Sadeg A. Al-Aawar

Abstract Background: The growing incidence of coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to cause fear, anxiety, and panic amongst the community, especially for healthcare providers (HCPs), as the most vulnerable group at risk of contracting this new SARS-CoV-2 infection. To protect and enhance the ability of HCPs to perform their role in responding to COVID-19, healthcare authorities must help to alleviate the level of stress and anxiety amongst HCPs and the community. This will improve the knowledge, attitude and practice towards COVID-19, especially for HCPs. In addition, authorities need to comply in treating this virus by implementing control measures and other precautions. This study explores the knowledge, attitude, anxiety, and preventive behaviours among Yemeni HCPs towards COVID-19. Methods: A descriptive, web-based-cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,231 Yemeni HCPs. The COVID-19 related questionnaire was designed using Google forms where the responses were coded and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software package (IBM SPSS), version 22.0. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation coefficient test were also employed in this study. A p-value of < 0.05 with a 95% confidence interval was considered as statistically significant. The data collection phase commenced on 22nd April 2020, at 6 pm and finished on 26th April 2020 at 11 am. Results: The results indicated that from the 1,231 HCPs participating in this study, 61.6% were male, and 67% were aged between 20 and 30 years with a mean age of 29.29 ±6.75. Most (86%) held a bachelor’s degree or above having at least 10 years of work experience or less (88.1%). However, while 57.1% of the respondents obtained their information via social networks and news media, a further 60.0% had never attended lectures/discussions about COVID-19. The results further revealed that the majority of respondents had adequate knowledge, optimistic attitude, moderate level of anxiety, and high-performance in preventive behaviours, 69.8%, 85.10%, 51.0 and 87.70%, respectively, towards COVID-19. Conclusion: Although the Yemeni HCPs exhibited an adequate level of knowledge, optimism, attitude, moderate level of anxiety, and high-performance in preventive behaviours toward COVID-19, the results highlighted gaps, particularly in their knowledge and attitude towards COVID-19.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gamil Ghaleb Alrubaiee ◽  
Talal Ali Hussein Al-Qalah ◽  
Mohammed Sadeg A. Al-Aawar

Abstract Background: The current rapid prevalence of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic over the world is associated with a considerable level of scared, anxiety, and panic among the public, in particular, healthcare providers (HCPs) as the most vulnerable group at risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection. To protect and enhance HCPs' capacity to carry out their duties in responding to COVID-19, healthcare authorities should keep them away from stress and anxiety and improve their knowledge, attitude, and practice towards COVID-19 to ensure their compliance with infection control precautions. Therefore, this study aimed to explore knowledge, attitudes, anxiety, and preventive behaviours among Yemeni HCPs towards COVID-19. Methods: A descriptive, web-based-cross-sectional study was conducted among 1231 Yemeni HCPs. The COVID-19 related questionnaire was designed using Google forms. The responses were coded and analyzed using the software package (IBMSPSS), version 22.0. Descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlation coefficient test were also used in this study. A p-value of < 0.05 levels with a 95% confidence interval was considered as statistically significant. The data collection started on 22nd April 2020, at 6 PM and closed on 26th April 2020 at 11 AM. Results: The results indicated that out of 1231 of the HCPs participating in this study, 61.6% were male and 67% were in the age group of 20 to 30 years old with a mean of 29.29±6.75. Most of them (86%) had a bachelor's degree or above and had 10 years of working experience or less (88.1%). Besides, although 57.1% of the respondents obtained their information via social and news media and 60.0% had never attended lectures/discussions about COVID-19, the results revealed that the majority of respondents had an adequate level of knowledge, an optimistic attitude, moderate anxiety, and high performance in preventive behaviours (69.8%, 85.10%, 51.0& 87.70%, respectively) toward the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: Although the Yemeni HCPs exhibited an adequate level of knowledge, an optimistic attitude, moderate anxiety, and high performance in preventive behaviours toward the COVID-19 pandemic, the results showed gaps in some themes, particularly in their knowledge and attitude on the COVID-19 pandemic which needs to be updated or refreshed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 163 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna L. Wickemeyer ◽  
Kathleen R. Billings ◽  
Taher S. Valika

Objective To provide evolving information on active protocols regarding inpatient, outpatient, procedural, and surgical case management taking place in otolaryngology practices in response to COVID-19. Study Type Cross-sectional multi-institutional survey. Methods An online survey of 55 otolaryngology departments across North America. Results As of March 25, 2020, almost all (n = 53 of 55, 96.3%) otolaryngology departments had canceled elective cases and were performing only urgent consults. Most residents continued to participate in operative cases (n = 45 of 49, 91.8%) and take call (n = 48 of 50, 96.0%). Of the respondents, 27 of 29 (93.1%) stated that they were deferring nonemergent tracheostomy procedures for the time being. The use of personal protective equipment followed a general trend of an increasing level of protection with an increased risk of the procedure; most (n = 49 of 54, 90.7%) incorporated N95 mask usage for bedside/clinic examinations with flexible laryngoscopy. Powered air-purifying respirators and N95 masks were used mainly for procedures involving the mucosal surfaces. Discussion Due to the high viral density in the nasal cavity and nasopharynx of patients with COVID-19, basic examinations and common otolaryngology procedures place practitioners at high risk of exposure. Although there is variability in practice among otolaryngologists across North America in managing the COVID-19 outbreak, most are primarily seeing urgent ambulatory and inpatient consultations. Most are also incorporating personal protective equipment appropriate to the level of transmission across mucous membranes. Implications for Practice In these rapidly evolving times, it is helpful to find solidarity and assurance among health care providers. Current data aimed to provide (1) perceived methods regarding the safe care of otolaryngology patients and (2) updated practice patterns at a national level.


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