Physician perspectives on chronic pain management: barriers and the use of eHealth in the COVID-19 era.

BACKGROUND: Chronic pain is a highly prevalent and disabling condition which is often undertreated and poorly managed in the community. The emergence of COVID-19 has further complicated pain care, with an increased prevalence of chronic pain and mental health comorbidities, and burnout among physicians. While the pandemic has led to a dramatic increase in virtual health care visits, the uptake of a broader range of eHealth technologies remains unclear. The present study sought to better understand physicians' current needs and barriers in providing effective pain care within the context of COVID-19, as well as gauge current use, interest, and ongoing barriers to eHealth implementation. METHODS: A total of 100 practicing physicians in British Columbia, Canada, completed a brief online survey. RESULTS: The sample was comprised of physicians practicing in rural and urban areas (rural = 48%, urban = 42%; both = 10%), with the majority (72%) working in family practice. The most prominent perceived barriers to providing chronic pain care were a lack of interdisciplinary treatment and allied health care for patients, challenges related to opioid prescribing and management, and a lack of time to manage the complexities of chronic pain. Moreover, despite expressing considerable interest in eHealth for chronic pain management (82%), low adoption rates were observed for several technologies. Specifically, only a small percentage of the sample reported using eHealth for the collection of intake data (21%), patient-reported outcomes (14%), and remote patient monitoring (26%). The most common perceived barriers to implementation were cost, complexity, and unfamiliarity with available options. CONCLUSIONS: Findings provide insight into physicians' ongoing needs and barriers in providing effective pain management during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the potential for eHealth technologies to help address barriers in pain care, and strong interest from physicians, enhanced useability, education and training, and funding are likely required to achieve successful implementation of a broader range of eHealth technologies in the future.

The Impact of Parenting Style on Attitudes toward Masturbation: A Latent Profile Analysis.

Parents play a vital role in the development of their children's sexual attitudes and behaviors; however, little is known about the impact of parenting on masturbation attitudes. The present study aimed to explore the role of discussions with parents about attitudes toward masturbation. Additionally, latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to determine whether subgroups of exposure to distinct parenting styles exist, and if so, the extent to which they are related to the formation of masturbation attitudes. A convenience sample of 279 university students aged 18-21 completed an anonymous self-report survey. Participants who had not discussed masturbation with their parents reported significantly more negative attitudes than those who had discussed it. In general, participants who perceived their parents to be high in both rejection and control reported more negative attitudes toward masturbation than participants whose parents were lower in rejection and lower in control. The LPA revealed three parenting profiles that were differentially related to young adults' masturbation attitudes: Permissive Parenting, Typical Parenting, and Authoritarian Parenting. An exploratory analysis found that female participants endorsed fewer negative attitudes toward masturbation than their male counterparts. Bayesian statistics were used to improve the interpretation of the data, allow for more meaningful and accurate conclusions, and provide converging evidence with the null hypothesis significance testing results. Implications and limitations are discussed within the context of current masturbation and parenting style research.