Barriers and facilitators for providing pain control during intrauterine device insertion: a multi-center physician survey

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Purpose To evaluate physicians’ barriers and facilitators, as well as knowledge, practices, attitudes, and beliefs, regarding analgesia for IUD insertionMethodology A multi-center online survey was conducted from January to July 2023 in Ontario, Canada. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, ANOVA, and thematic analysis.Results Among 85 providers who responded to the survey, there was a lack of consensus regarding provision of analgesia for IUD insertion, as only 52.9% routinely provided pain control. The remaining 40 providers (47.1%) stated that they do not routinely provide pain control for IUD insertion, although 87.5% of participants stated that they would provide pain control if the patient specifically requested analgesia. No differences were found between academic and community staff (p = 0.94) or less experienced providers in provision of pain control (p = 0.24). Reasons for provision of pain control included patient comfort, care, and procedure safety. Conversely, other physicians believed the pain was minimal or short-lived, or faced logistical barriers in providing analgesia.Conclusions Patients and providers should engage in shared decision-making regarding pain control for IUD insertion.