Prescription drug misuse: quantifying the experiences of New Zealand GPs

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The misuse of prescription drugs for their psychoactive effects is an international problem. To date, there is a paucity of quantitative data on prescription drug misuse (PDM) in New Zealand, especially data investigating the experiences of general practitioners (GPs). AIM: To quantify GPs’ experiences regarding PDM in New Zealand in terms of the extent of the problem, challenges faced, problem drugs, and actions taken by GPs once PDM is suspected. METHOD: A cross-sectional postal survey of a random sample of 300 GPs in New Zealand was undertaken. RESULTS: A 45.7% response rate was achieved. Approximately two-thirds of GPs (65.9%) had diagnosed at least one patient with a PDM problem in the last 12 months. Thirty percent of respondents indicated that they had been faced with at least one challenge in the past 12 months, with ‘verbal threats’ being the most common of these (16.3%). Benzodiazepines and opioids were identified as the most problematic drug classes. The action usually taken by the greatest number of GPs once they suspected PDM was to ‘document it’ (97.9%) followed closely by ‘suggest an alternative drug’ (96.7%) and ‘refrain from prescribing the drug’ (91.9%). DISCUSSION: PDM is an issue for GPs. The findings from this study have highlighted the need for further research into this concerning issue, specifically further quantification of the size of the problem in the New Zealand general population. There is also a need for the development and implementation of interventions to help minimise and better manage PDM in New Zealand. KEYWORDS: Prescription drugs; pharmaceutical; drug abuse; drug misuse; general practitioners; New Zealand; questionnaires; quantitative