Support of supervised injection facilities by emergency physicians in Canada
Support of supervised injection facilities by emergency physicians in Canada
Noam Katz, Lynne Leonard, Lorne Wiesenfeld, Jeffrey J. Perry, Venkatesh Thiruganasambandamoorthy, Lisa Calder (2017)
Support of supervised injection facilities by emergency physicians in Canada
English
Website
Background:
Despite evidence supporting the implementation of supervised injection facilities (SIFs) by multiple stakeholders, no evaluation of emergency physicians’ attitudes has ever been documented towards such facilities in Canada or internationally. The primary goal of our study was to determine the opinions and perceptions of emergency physicians regarding the implementation of SIFs in Canada.
Methods:
We conducted a national electronic survey of staff and resident emergency physicians in Canada using an iteratively designed survey tool in consultation with content experts. Invitations to complete the survey were sent via email by the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians. Inclusion criteria required respondents to have treated an adult patient in a Canadian emergency department within the preceding 6 months. The primary measure was the proportion of respondents who would support, not support or were unsure of supporting SIFs in their community with the secondary measure being the likelihood of respondents to refer patients to a SIF if available.
Results:
We received 280 responses out of 1353 eligible physicians (20.7%), with the analysis conducted on 250 responses that met inclusion criteria (18.5%). The majority of respondents stated they would support the implementation of SIFs in their community (N = 172; 74.5%) while 10.8% (N = 25) would not and 14.7% (N = 34) did not know. The majority of respondents said they would refer their patients to SIFs (N = 198; 84.6%), with 4.3% (N = 10) who would not and 11.1% (N = 26) who were unsure.
Conclusion:
The findings from our study demonstrate that the majority of emergency physician respondents in Canada support the implementation of such sites (74.5%) while 84.6% of respondents would refer patients from the emergency department to such sites if they did exist. Given that many Canadian cities are actively pursuing the creation of SIFs or imminently opening such sites, it appears that our sample population of emergency physicians would both support this approach and would utilize such facilities in an effort to improve patient-centered outcomes for this often marginalized population.
Despite evidence supporting the implementation of supervised injection facilities (SIFs) by multiple stakeholders, no evaluation of emergency physicians’ attitudes has ever been documented towards such facilities in Canada or internationally. The primary goal of our study was to determine the opinions and perceptions of emergency physicians regarding the implementation of SIFs in Canada.
Methods:
We conducted a national electronic survey of staff and resident emergency physicians in Canada using an iteratively designed survey tool in consultation with content experts. Invitations to complete the survey were sent via email by the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians. Inclusion criteria required respondents to have treated an adult patient in a Canadian emergency department within the preceding 6 months. The primary measure was the proportion of respondents who would support, not support or were unsure of supporting SIFs in their community with the secondary measure being the likelihood of respondents to refer patients to a SIF if available.
Results:
We received 280 responses out of 1353 eligible physicians (20.7%), with the analysis conducted on 250 responses that met inclusion criteria (18.5%). The majority of respondents stated they would support the implementation of SIFs in their community (N = 172; 74.5%) while 10.8% (N = 25) would not and 14.7% (N = 34) did not know. The majority of respondents said they would refer their patients to SIFs (N = 198; 84.6%), with 4.3% (N = 10) who would not and 11.1% (N = 26) who were unsure.
Conclusion:
The findings from our study demonstrate that the majority of emergency physician respondents in Canada support the implementation of such sites (74.5%) while 84.6% of respondents would refer patients from the emergency department to such sites if they did exist. Given that many Canadian cities are actively pursuing the creation of SIFs or imminently opening such sites, it appears that our sample population of emergency physicians would both support this approach and would utilize such facilities in an effort to improve patient-centered outcomes for this often marginalized population.
