Does a history of sickle cell disease affect the prescription of morphine? An international, randomised study based on clinical vignettes conducted among emergency physicians.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To assess whether emergency physicians prescribe morphine differently for patients with or without sickle cell disease (SCD). Given the difficulty of comparing strictly homogeneous patients in real clinical settings, we used a standardised clinical vignette to ensure that all clinical information was identical except for SCD status and sex.

Design

International, randomised controlled, vignette-based study conducted online. The four vignette versions differed only in patient sex and SCD status, with all other clinical information fully standardised. Vignettes were validated by an expert panel and randomly allocated using a computer-generated sequence.

Setting

Emergency physicians practising in France, the UK, Belgium and Switzerland were invited to complete

SUBMITTER: Coisy F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12742085 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature