Patient engagement and prescription opioid use in perioperative pain management.

Objective: To examine (1) patient perceptions regarding their engagement and the engagement of their families in perioperative pain management, (2) demographic and clinical characteristics associated with perceived patient and family engagement, and (3) the association between perceived patient and family engagement and patient outcomes.

Design: A prospective, observational study.

Setting: The Personalized Pain Program (PPP) at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

Participants: Patients having more than one visit to the PPP.

Interventions: n/a.

Main Outcome Measures: Since the inception of the PPP, patients were surveyed prior to each clinic visit to assess their pain severity and interference using the Brief Pain Inventory. Starting August 22, 2018, two additional questions were added to the survey to assess patient perceptions of their engagement and the engagement of their families in perioperative pain management. In addition, electronic medical records were reviewed to collect data on daily opioid consumption during the first and last PPP visits presurgery and post-surgery.

Results: The final analysis included 511 survey responses from 155 patients. Perceived engagement of the patient in perioperative pain management improved over time (p < .001) and was significantly associated with reduction in prescription opioid consumption after surgery (coef = 12.7, SE = 5.8, p = .031).

Conclusions: Surgical patients and their family members should be actively engaged in perioperative pain management to improve prescription opioid use and the quality and safety of perioperative care.