Table 4: Patient impressions of the educational pamphlet “Are you thinking about taking opioids (painkillers) for your pain?”
Patient impressionNo. (%) of patients
Strongly agreeAgreeUncertainDisagreeStrongly disagree
I was aware of this information before starting on long-term opioid therapy (n = 143)43 (30.1)64 (44.8)18 (12.6)10 (7.0)8 (5.6)
This information makes me feel more positively about long-term opioid therapy (n = 143)25 (17.5)61 (42.7)43 (30.1)13 (9.1)1 (0.7)
If I had this information before I began long-term opioid therapy, I would have decided against long-term opioid therapy (n = 143)1 (0.7)7 (4.9)23 (16.1)66 (46.2)46 (32.2)
Having read this information now, I am thinking about stopping or decreasing my use of opioids (n = 143)010 (7.0)24 (16.8)53 (37.1)56 (39.2)
The pamphlet was too complicated/confusing (n = 142)1 (0.7)4 (2.8)16 (11.3)66 (46.5)55 (38.7)
The pamphlet provided too much information (n = 141)06 (4.3)16 (11.3)72 (51.1)47 (33.3)
The pamphlet provided too little information (n = 141)3 (2.1)21 (14.9)19 (13.5)65 (46.1)33 (23.4)
Reading the pamphlet answered all my questions about long-term opioid therapy (n = 141)22 (15.6)55 (39.0)38 (27.0)23 (16.3)4 (2.1)
Reading the pamphlet reduced my fears about long-term opioid use (n = 141)12 (8.5)51 (36.2)48 (34.0)24 (17.0)6 (4.3)
Reading the pamphlet increased my fears about long-term opioid use (n = 141)016 (11.3)20 (14.2)73 (51.8)32 (22.7)