ArticleCanadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien2024
Barriers and facilitators for family physicians prescribing opioid agonist therapy in Saskatchewan.
Article in Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
- What opioid use disorder reveals about generalism, continuity, and care.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2026Article
- Factors influencing family physicians' willingness to prescribe opioid agonist therapy using virtual modalities: a qualitative analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Patient perspectives on buprenorphine/naloxone for chronic noncancer pain: A qualitative interview study.Canadian journal of pain = Revue canadienne de la douleur · 2026Article
- Primary care physician characteristics associated with becoming opioid agonist treatment prescribers in British Columbia: a retrospective case-control study.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo explore barriers and facilitators for family physicians in Saskatchewan prescribing opioid agonist therapy (OAT).
designSelf-administered postal survey.
settingFamily medicine practices in Saskatchewan.
participantsA total of 218 Saskatchewan family physicians who were not authorized to prescribe OAT as of June 2022.
main outcome measuresDescriptive and inferential statistics of physicians' self-reported barriers to and facilitators of prescribing OAT for opioid use disorder (OUD).
resultsMost respondents (84.8%) had some comfort with diagnosing OUD. However, more than half (58.3%) did not feel confident or knowledgeable about prescribing OAT. Barriers to OAT prescribing included lack of time, incomplete training requirements, lack of interest, insufficient funding or support, feeling overwhelmed, and perceiving that OAT does not work and thus is not necessary. Physicians working in core neighbourhoods and those receiving fee-for-service compensation reported the least available time to prescribe OAT. Conversely, physicians working in interdisciplinary team settings had increased time for OAT prescribing compared with physicians in other settings. Having a close personal relationship with someone with OUD was correlated with increased comfort in diagnosing OUD as well as with knowledge about and confidence in prescribing OAT. Themes identified as facilitators to increasing OAT prescribing included the addition of resources and supports, increased training, more awareness about OUD and OAT, enhanced compensation, and altered prescribing regulations.
conclusionDespite the presence of several real and perceived barriers limiting OAT prescribing by Saskatchewan family physicians, there are family physicians interested in providing this therapy. Increased clinical resources and support, including increased interdisciplinary practice, are actionable steps that should be considered by policy decision makers to address this issue. Additionally, increased OUD and OAT education, which includes the perspectives of those with lived experience of OUD, would help address physician confidence, knowledge, and awareness in this area.
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