(PS5-D88) Emergency Department Personnel Attitudes Toward Treating Opioid Use Disorder: Examining the Intersection of Race and OUD

Compared to individuals presenting with other medical conditions, emergency department personnel frequently hold negative attitudes towards individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). These negative attitudes often manifest themselves behaviorally as enacted stigma, which decreases the likelihood of individuals with OUD to engage in help-seeking during opioid-related emergencies (Van Boekel et al., 2013).  Currently, it is unknown whether the intersection of race by OUD status exacerbates these negative attitudes, as race or ethnicity is another facet of a patient’s identity that can be stigmatized. Moreover, the literature suggests that racial and ethnic minority populations have been held in lower regard by medical professionals across disciplines (Christison et al., 2002). The purpose of the present study is to assess the intersection of race and OUD status in emergency department personnel’s self-reported attitudes.

Participants (N= 152; 56% female; M age [SD] = 39.11 [10.70] range 18-65 years) were recruited from hospital emergency departments across the United States. Participants completed an online version of the Medical Conditions Regards Scale (MCRS; Christison et al., 2002). The MCRS asks individuals to rate attitudes about three different medical conditions (i.e., chest pain, opioid overdose, psychotic episode). Participants were randomly assigned to a prompt containing a vignette description for each condition, along with a photo of either a Black-presenting or White-presenting “patient” (Ma, Correll, & Wittenbrink, 2015).

A 2x3 between-subjects (i.e., race) and within-subjects (i.e., medical conditions) ANOVA was used to assess the intersecting relationship between race and medical condition. Results of this study revealed a significant main effect for race, F (1,147) = 6.23, p = .014, η_p² = 0.04, and a significant main effect for medical condition, F (2,294) = 25.99, p < .001, η_p² = 0.15. The race by medical condition interaction was not significant, F (2,294) = 2.68, p = 0.065. η_p² = 0.02. The main effect of race found emergency department personnel held significantly more positive attitudes towards Black patients.  Post-hoc testing of medical condition found emergency department personnel held significantly more positive attitudes towards individuals presenting with chest pain compared to individuals presenting with a psychotic episode or an opioid overdose. No differences were detected between individuals with a psychotic episode versus opioid overdose.

Overall, conclusions of the study illustrated the differences in attitudes toward the treatment of different medical conditions and was consistent with previous literature on the stigma towards OUD. Although findings did not align with previous literature on racial stigma in healthcare, the study still adds novelty to the literature on examining the attitudes toward these intersecting identities in emergency department personnel and provides an avenue for future research.