What Trainees Infer About Patients When Making Opioid Prescribing Decisions: A Qualitative Interview Study

The opioid crisis has been a factor that has significantly impacted pain management practices, leading to cautious opioid prescribing among physicians. This study explores how anesthesiology trainees navigate pain treatment decisions, focusing on how patient characteristics influence opioid prescribing behaviors. We found that trainees initially relied on "red flags" to assess a patient's propensity to abuse opioids. However, trainees' judgements were also shaped over the course of the clinical encounter on an individual basis. The study found no clear racial differences in prescribing decisions but highlighted the complex interplay between medical indications, patient behaviors, and socioeconomic factors in the trainees' assessments.