Assessment of a comprehensive naloxone education program’s impact on community member knowledge and attitudes on a college campus

Abstract

Objective: Access to naloxone is a priority for reducing opioid overdose deaths. Although participants who receive naloxone training are able to successfully administer it, the impact of training on community member knowledge and attitudes has not been explored. Participants: A total of 105 participants 18 years and older at a medium-sized university completed assessments between August and December 2019. Methods: Participants were scheduled to complete a standardized 30-minute naloxone training as developed by the research team. Assessments were taken at baseline, immediately following, and three-months following education using the Opioid Overdose Knowledge Scale (OOKS) and Opioid Overdose Attitudes Scale (OOAS). Results: The primary endpoint of change from baseline to immediate post-education for total OOKS and OOAS median scores significantly improved (p < 0.001) by 31 and 34 points, respectively. Conclusions: Naloxone education provides an opportunity to improve community attitudes and reduce stigma over time.

Keywords:

• Community member
• harm reduction
• naloxone
• naloxone education
• opioid overdose
• opioid use disorder

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Gloria Choy, Amandeep Kaur, and Alicia Letizio for assisting with data analysis and manuscript development.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States of America and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Binghamton University.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for research support was provided by the Opioid Research Center of Central New York.