Opioid Safety Education in Adolescent Students

Abstract

Purpose: Opioid overdoses profoundly impact thousands of families across the United States. Behind this issue lies the accessibility of opioid prescriptions right inside our medicine cabinets. Our goal was to educate adolescent students in Kentucky schools about this matter because they comprise a vulnerable population. Methods: Preand posttestings were used to analyze 26 adolescents’ knowledge, attitudes, and awareness regarding opioid overdoses preand post-intervention. Results: Adolescents displayed significantly improved results from pre-test to post-test. Overdose Knowledge scores improved by 16% from preto post-intervention (p = 0.01). Attitude to Act scores improved by 35% (p = 0.03). Drug Disposal Awareness scores improved by 54% (p < 0.01). Conclusions: This study demonstrates that education improves adolescents’ opioid overdose knowledge, attitudes, and awareness. The evidence shows that there are educational gaps that should be filled by teaching adolescents about the opioid epidemic and providing them with resources.