Last, our study concentrated on the concept of morphinofobia and should not be generalized for other opioids. Conclusion This study contributes to a better understanding

of “the myths of morphine” among the general population and health professionals in the region of Beira Interior. It suggests that efficient pain management is not limited to the prescription of an adequate analgesic according to « the http://www.selleckchem.com/products/fg-4592.html golden standard ». The success of a morphine prescription is influenced by a multitude of other factors. Our results are in accordance with the results of the study by Musi et al. [26] done in a similar regional setting. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical There seems to be quite a misunderstanding of “morphine” as well among GP as HP in North-Eastern Portugal. Such a misunderstanding might well end up in straight forward

morphinofobia, thus ultimately Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical compromising an appropriate pain management strategy as recommended by W.H.O. guidelines and EAPC recommendations. This leads us to suggest that there is a need for information campaigns targeting the general population and for better training programs targeting health care professionals based on the theory of planned clinical behaviour [14] in order to improve acceptance and efficacy of pain management. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Authors’ contributions HV carried out the study concept, drafted the manuscript, the data analysing Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and interpretation, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the follow-up and participated in the questionnaire design and data collection. EKM carried

out the design of the questionnaire, the study concept and participated in the draft of the manuscript. MF carried out the design and the translation of the questionnaires, survey and data collection and contributed in the data analysis and interpretation. CHR conceived the study, participated in the questionnaire design, data analysis and interpretation and Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the draft of the manuscript. PC carried out the draft of the manuscript and participated in the data analysis and interpretation. All the authors approved the final manuscript. Pre-publication history The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-684X/9/15/prepub Acknowledgements The delay between the survey and this reporting was caused by the absence of financial support and the suddenly death of our dear colleague Prof. C-H Rapin. The authors thank and the hospitals and the community home care centres of Beira Interior for their collaboration. In memoriam of Professor Charles-Henri Rapin, co-author, who died on the 10th of July 2008 in Sion, Switzerland.
Opioids are increasingly used for the treatment of chronic malignant and nonmalignant pain [1,2] and systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials have confirmed their short-term efficacy for the treatment of neuropathic pain, back pain, ostearthritis, cancer pain, and fibromyalgia [3-8].