Prescription opioid use and misuse
Objective To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a multifaceted educational intervention to improve the opioid prescribing practices of rural family physicians in a remote First Nations community.

Design Prospective cohort study.

Setting Sioux Lookout, Ont.

Participants Family physicians.

Interventions Eighteen family physicians participated in a 1-year study of a series of educational interventions on safe opioid prescribing. Interventions included a main workshop with a lecture and interactive case discussions, an online chat room, video case conferencing, and consultant support.

Main outcome measures Responses to questionnaires at baseline and after 1 year on knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to opioid prescribing.

Results The main workshop was feasible and was well received by primary care physicians in remote communities. At 1 year, physicians were less concerned about getting patients addicted to opioids and more comfortable with opioid dosing.

Conclusion Multifaceted education and consultant support might play an important role in improving family physician comfort with opioid prescribing, and could improve the treatment of chronic pain while minimizing the risk of addiction.