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Establishing and Evaluating a Study Questionnaire on Knowledge and Attitudes of Healthcare Professionals Towards Recreational and Medical Cannabis Across Europe

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Abstract

Background and Objective

The present survey was a preliminary to a European research project on the attitude and knowledge of healthcare professionals towards the use of medical cannabis. The objective was to evaluate the readability, understandability, and relevance of a first version of the study questionnaire before preparing the finalized questionnaire, which will be subsequently proposed to European healthcare professionals on a large scale.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2019 and May 2020. We established an electronic evaluation questionnaire relating to the study questionnaire. This evaluation questionnaire was proposed to multidisciplinary experts from all over Europe. Feedback from the evaluation questionnaire was considered for improving and finalizing the study questionnaire.

Results

66 evaluation questionnaires were collected from nine European countries (Cyprus, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom), which corresponded to a participation rate of 41.5%. Most participants were women (65.2%, n = 43). The mean age was 39.5 years ± 11.6. Each participant could specify several occupations. There were 25 pharmacologists, 24 physicians, ten pharmacists, four university teachers, three epidemiologists or public health experts, one nurse, one biotechnologist, one microbiologist, and one police researcher. Overall, 84.8% of participants were interested in the topic of the survey on the knowledge and attitudes of healthcare professionals towards recreational and medical cannabis across Europe. Participants were satisfied with all but six of the proposed questions. In addition, two additional questions were subject for comments despite a high level of satisfaction. Consequently, the concerned questions (n = 8) were modified.

Conclusion

This evaluation survey was a necessary step to improve the quality of the future research project. The positive feedback encourages the authors to proceed with the project on a European scale, scheduled for 2021.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to all the experts who voluntarily participated in the evaluation of the study questionnaire on knowledge and attitudes of health professionals towards recreational and medical cannabis across Europe. Thank you for having taken the time to provide this qualitative feedback. We also thank Manuela Rueter for inviting professionals from Germany to participate.

List of collaborators of the Working Group on medical cannabis projects of the EACPT Young Clinical Pharmacologists: Elena Guillén (Barcelona, Spain), Cristiana Freixo (Lisbon, Portugal), Pau Alcubilla (Barcelona, Spain), Faizan Mazhar (Milan, Italy), Richard Turner (Liverpool, UK), Persoulla Nicolaou (Nicosia, Cyprus), Simona Stankevičiūtė (Kaunas, Lithuania), Vincent Leclerc (Paris, France).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Epidemiology and Research in POPulation health (CERPOP), Team EQUITY, UMR Inserm-University of Toulouse, University of Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, Faculty of Medicine, 37 Allées Jules Guesde, 31000, Toulouse, France

    Emilie Jouanjus

  2. Addictovigilance Center, Department of Medical Pharmacology, Toulouse University Hospital, Toulouse, France

    Emilie Jouanjus

  3. Clinical Pharmacology service, Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain

    Carla Sans-Pola

  4. Department of Pharmacology, Therapeutics and Toxicology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Carla Sans-Pola

  5. Immunomediated diseases and Innovative Therapies research group, Institut de Recerca Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain

    Carla Sans-Pola

  6. Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Beatrice Mainoli

  7. Department of Pharmacy, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK

    Farideh A. Javid

  8. Clinical Pharmacology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    Isabella Ekheden

Authors
  1. Emilie Jouanjus
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  2. Carla Sans-Pola
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  3. Beatrice Mainoli
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  4. Farideh A. Javid
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  5. Isabella Ekheden
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Consortia

Working Group on Medical Cannabis Projects of the EACPT Young Clinical Pharmacologists

  • Elena Guillén
  • , Cristiana Freixo
  • , Pau Alcubilla
  • , Faizan Mazhar
  • , Richard Turner
  • , Persoulla Nicolaou
  • , Simona Stankevičiūtė
  •  & Vincent Leclerc

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emilie Jouanjus.

Ethics declarations

Funding

This study was not funded.

Conflict of Interest

None of authors have conflicts of interest to disclose.

Availability of Data and Material

The data that support the findings of this study are partially available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

Author Contributions

Conception and design—EJ, IE; drafting the questionnaire—EJ; revising the questionnaire—EJ, CSP, IE and members of the Working Group: CF, PA, FM and VL; acquisition of data—EJ, CSP, BM, IE and members of the Working Group: EG, CF, PA, FM, RT, PN and SS; data management and analysis—EJ; interpretation of data—EJ, IE; drafting the manuscript—EJ; revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content—all authors; given final approval of the version to be published—all authors. All authors agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Ethics Approval

The study complies with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), applicable as of 25 May 2018 in all member states. The Research Ethics Committee (REC) of the University of Toulouse agreed that the study protocol was in accordance with ethical standards.

Disclaimers

The views expressed in the submitted article are the authors’ own and not an official position of the institution or funder.

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Jouanjus, E., Sans-Pola, C., Mainoli, B. et al. Establishing and Evaluating a Study Questionnaire on Knowledge and Attitudes of Healthcare Professionals Towards Recreational and Medical Cannabis Across Europe. Clin Drug Investig 41, 701–710 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40261-021-01058-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40261-021-01058-x

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