Abstract

Background: Insufficient pain management may lead to terminally ill patients' desire for euthanasia. A conundrum exists in palliative medicine. On the one hand, early use of opioid analgesics might guarantee efficient pain management. Opioids, on the other hand, raise the possibility of addiction. Despite having a strong palliative care system, Poland has a low opioid medication usage rate.

Aim: To compare the opinions on opioid painkiller use between palliative care patients and physicians.

Materials and methods: A survey with closed-ended questions and 5-point Likert scale ratings was used to gather information on the perspectives of hospice and palliative care patients (n=104) and doctors of various specialities (n=216). The survey was conducted between March 15 and June 30, 2020.

Results: Pain was felt by the majority of cancer patients (87.5%) throughout their disease (mean intensity: 7.01 2.44). Responses to surveys were consistent with the phenomena of opioidophobia in both patients and doctors.

Conclusions: The numerous and diverse suggestions for their usage set against the backdrop of the opioid epidemic may serve to strengthen the scepticism and mistrust Polish doctors and patients have voiced against the use of opioids. Future research on treatments that adhere to the guidelines of opioid reduction is required in Poland, where the opioid crisis has not had a significant influence on patient experiences.

Keynotes: 90% of the patients polled reported experiencing pain at some point during their sickness and treatment. The biggest differences in opinions were in the area of medical knowledge, which may be an indication of inadequate patient education about opioid usage and poor patient-physician communication.

The availability of palliative care, which focuses on balancing opioid usage, reducing side effects, managing analgesia efficacy, and educating patients, may have a favourable influence on the convergence of views on the use of opioid analgesics among patients and doctors from various disciplines.