TY - JOUR
T1 - Beliefs and misperceptions about naloxone and overdose among U.S. laypersons
T2 - a cross-sectional study
AU - Agley, Jon
AU - Xiao, Yunyu
AU - Eldridge, Lori
AU - Meyerson, Beth
AU - Golzarri-Arroyo, Lilian
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank Ms. Xiwei Chen, Biostatistics Consulting Center, for her support with some of the analyses for this study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Background: Overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) to laypersons are key approaches to reduce the incidence of opioid-involved overdoses. While some research has examined attitudes toward OEND, especially among pharmacists and first responders, our understanding of what laypersons believe about overdose and naloxone is surprisingly limited. Further, some scholars have expressed concerns about the prevalence of non-evidence-based beliefs about overdose and naloxone. We designed this study to analyze the prevalence, nature, and context of beliefs about naloxone and overdose among U.S. laypersons. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study (n = 702) using Prolific.co (representative of the U.S. population by age, gender, and race). Primary outcomes were the believability of six statements about overdose/naloxone on a seven-point Likert-type scale. Five statements were unsupported, and one was supported, by current scientific evidence. We used latent profile analysis to classify participants into belief groups, then used regression to study correlates of profile classification. Results: Believability of the statements (7: extremely believable) ranged from m = 5.57 (SD = 1.38) for a scientifically supported idea (trained bystanders can reverse overdose with naloxone), to m = 3.33 (SD = 1.83) for a statement claiming opioid users can get high on naloxone. Participants were classified into three latent belief profiles: Profile 1 (most aligned with current evidence; n = 246), Profile 2 (moderately aligned; n = 351), and Profile 3 (least aligned, n = 105). Compared to Profile 1, several covariates were associated with categorization into Profiles 2 and 3, including lower trust in science (RRR = 0.36, 95%CI = 0.24–0.54; RRR = 0.21, 95%CI = 0.12–0.36, respectively), conservative political orientation (RRR = 1.41, 95%CI = 1.23–1.63; 3:RRR = 1.62, 95%CI = 1.35–1.95, respectively), and never being trained about naloxone (Profile 3: RRR = 3.37, 95%CI = 1.16–9.77). Conclusions: Preliminary evidence suggests some U.S. laypersons simultaneously believe that bystander overdose prevention with naloxone can prevent overdose and one or more scientifically unsupported claims about naloxone/overdose. Categorization into clusters displaying such belief patterns was associated with low trust in science, conservative political orientation, and not having been trained about naloxone. Preregistration: This cross-sectional study was preregistered prior to any data collection using the Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/c6ufv.
AB - Background: Overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) to laypersons are key approaches to reduce the incidence of opioid-involved overdoses. While some research has examined attitudes toward OEND, especially among pharmacists and first responders, our understanding of what laypersons believe about overdose and naloxone is surprisingly limited. Further, some scholars have expressed concerns about the prevalence of non-evidence-based beliefs about overdose and naloxone. We designed this study to analyze the prevalence, nature, and context of beliefs about naloxone and overdose among U.S. laypersons. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study (n = 702) using Prolific.co (representative of the U.S. population by age, gender, and race). Primary outcomes were the believability of six statements about overdose/naloxone on a seven-point Likert-type scale. Five statements were unsupported, and one was supported, by current scientific evidence. We used latent profile analysis to classify participants into belief groups, then used regression to study correlates of profile classification. Results: Believability of the statements (7: extremely believable) ranged from m = 5.57 (SD = 1.38) for a scientifically supported idea (trained bystanders can reverse overdose with naloxone), to m = 3.33 (SD = 1.83) for a statement claiming opioid users can get high on naloxone. Participants were classified into three latent belief profiles: Profile 1 (most aligned with current evidence; n = 246), Profile 2 (moderately aligned; n = 351), and Profile 3 (least aligned, n = 105). Compared to Profile 1, several covariates were associated with categorization into Profiles 2 and 3, including lower trust in science (RRR = 0.36, 95%CI = 0.24–0.54; RRR = 0.21, 95%CI = 0.12–0.36, respectively), conservative political orientation (RRR = 1.41, 95%CI = 1.23–1.63; 3:RRR = 1.62, 95%CI = 1.35–1.95, respectively), and never being trained about naloxone (Profile 3: RRR = 3.37, 95%CI = 1.16–9.77). Conclusions: Preliminary evidence suggests some U.S. laypersons simultaneously believe that bystander overdose prevention with naloxone can prevent overdose and one or more scientifically unsupported claims about naloxone/overdose. Categorization into clusters displaying such belief patterns was associated with low trust in science, conservative political orientation, and not having been trained about naloxone. Preregistration: This cross-sectional study was preregistered prior to any data collection using the Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/c6ufv.
KW - Misinformation
KW - Naloxone
KW - Opioid epidemic
KW - Opioids
KW - Overdose
KW - Trust in science
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85129716252&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85129716252&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12889-022-13298-3
DO - 10.1186/s12889-022-13298-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 35538566
AN - SCOPUS:85129716252
VL - 22
JO - BMC Public Health
JF - BMC Public Health
SN - 1471-2458
IS - 1
M1 - 924
ER -