According to a new study, the nonmedical use of prescription opioids went down among adults in the United States from 2003 to 2013. However, the prevalence of disorders related to these drugs, their frequency of use, and number of related deaths has increased. This increase in diseases and death from prescription opioid abuse is being called an epidemic.
In 2013, the number of deaths resulting from prescription opioid disorders exceeded the number of deaths from abuse of all illicit drugs; 16,200 to 14,774.
The study was conducted by researchers led by Beth Han, Ph.D., of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service. To investigate the prevalence and related risk factors of nonmedical use of prescription opioids, they looked at data from 472,200 participants in the 2003-2013 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).
The researchers defined nonmedical use as use with or without a prescription or simply for the experience or feeling caused by opioids. Disorders included dependence on or abuse of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin, inhalants, or nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers, sedatives or stimulants.
The study found that prescription opioid dependence rose from 0.4% to 0.6% in people over age 12 from 2003 to 2013. Visits to emergency rooms rose from 82.5 to 184.1 per 100,000 from 2004 to 2011. Deaths related to prescription opioids rose from 1.4 to 5.1 per 100,000 from 1999 to 2013. The death rate from drug overdoses involving prescription opioids increased from 4.5 per 100,000 in 2003 to 7.8 per 100,000 in 2013. The study also found that from 1999 to 2002, 57.6% of opioid users took an opioid stronger than morphine or morphine-equivalent, but by 2011 to 2012, this number was 80%.
Disorders were more common among people without a high school diploma, those who were disabled for work, people with major depressive episodes, those without health insurance and those with Medicaid coverage rather than private health insurance. In 2013, more than 75% of adults aged with a disorder received no treatment.
People with dependences on alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin, stimulants, sedatives and nicotine were also more prone to disorders - as were those who stole or bought drugs, compared with those who received them for free from friends or relatives.