Differences in opioid analgesic practices between emergency medicine specialists and general practitioners: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

Acute pain is a common reason for emergency department visits. Opioids remain important for moderate to severe pain but their use is controversial due to safety concerns and variable prescribing practices. Differences in training between emergency medicine specialists and general practitioners may influence opioid administration and prescribing.

OBJECTIVES

To compare opioid administration and prescribing practices between emergency medicine specialists and general practitioners working in Turkish EDs, focusing on comfort, training, guideline adherence, and multimodal analgesia use.

METHODS

This nationwide cross-sectional survey included 200 physicians (100 emergency medicine specialists, 100 general practitioners) from various hospital types. Data were collected through a 17-item online questionnaire distributed via institutional mailing lists and professional societies. Statistical analyses included Chi-square tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, Spearman correlations, and binary logistic regression.

RESULTS

Emergency medicine specialists reported significantly greater comfort with opioid administration and prescribing (29% vs. 21% "very comfortable"; p = 0.0155), more frequent use of clinical guidelines (67% vs. 35%; p < 0.001), and more recent formal training (14% vs. 0% within the past year; p < 0.001). Familiarity with multimodal analgesia was also higher among specialists (96% vs. 89%; p = 0.0372). No significant differences were observed in opioid types used, side-effect concerns, or prescribing frequency. Correlation analysis showed that age and years of experience were positively associated with comfort (ρ = 0.17, p = 0.019; ρ = 0.16, p = 0.020), but not with actual opioid use. In logistic regression, specialty, training recency, and adherence to clinical guidelines independently predicted safe and consistent opioid practice.

CONCLUSION

Opioid administration and prescribing in emergency departments differ substantially between emergency medicine specialists and general practitioners, driven mainly by education and guideline adherence rather than institutional factors. Targeted training and standardized protocols are needed to reduce variability and improve safe, effective pain management in emergency care.