Dataset Information

Racial/ethnic differences in trends in heroin use and heroin-related risk behaviors among nonmedical prescription opioid users.

ABSTRACT:

Background

This study examines changing patterns of past-year heroin use and heroin-related risk behaviors among individuals with nonmedical use of prescription opioids (NMUPO) by racial/ethnic groups in the United States.

Methods

We used data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) from 2002 to 2005 and 2008 to 2011, resulting in a total sample of N = 448,597.

Results

Past-year heroin use increased among individuals with NMUPO and increases varied by frequency of past year NMUPO and race/ethnicity. Those with NMUPO in the 2008-2011 period had almost twice the odds of heroin use as those with NMUPO in the 2002-2005 period (OR = 1.89, 95%CI: 1.50, 2.39), with higher increases in non-Hispanic (NH) Whites and Hispanics. In 2008-2011, the risk of past year heroin use, ever injecting heroin, past-year heroin abuse or dependence, and the perception of availability of heroin increased as the frequency of NMUPO increased across respondents of all race/ethnicities.

Conclusion

Individuals with NMUPO, particularly non-Hispanic Whites, are at high risk of heroin use and heroin-related risk behaviors. These results suggest that frequent nonmedical users of prescription opioids, regardless of race/ethnicity, should be the focus of novel public health efforts to prevent and mitigate the harms of heroin use.

SUBMITTER: Martins SS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4447574 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Racial/ethnic differences in trends in heroin use and heroin-related risk behaviors among nonmedical prescription opioid users.

Martins Silvia S SS Santaella-Tenorio Julian J Marshall Brandon D L BD Maldonado Adriana A Cerdá Magdalena M

Drug and alcohol dependence 20150402

<h4>Background</h4>This study examines changing patterns of past-year heroin use and heroin-related risk behaviors among individuals with nonmedical use of prescription opioids (NMUPO) by racial/ethnic groups in the United States.<h4>Methods</h4>We used data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) from 2002 to 2005 and 2008 to 2011, resulting in a total sample of N = 448,597.<h4>Results</h4>Past-year heroin use increased among individuals with NMUPO and increases varied by freque ...[more]

PMID: 25869542

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Project description:ImportanceThere is concern that nonmedical prescription opioid use is associated with an increased risk of later heroin use initiation in adolescents, but to our knowledge, longitudinal data addressing this topic are lacking.ObjectiveTo determine whether nonmedical prescription opioid use is associated with subsequent initiation of heroin use in adolescents.Design, setting, and participantsThis prospective longitudinal cohort study conducted in 10 high schools in Los Angeles, California, administered 8 semiannual surveys from 9th through 12th grade that assessed nonmedical prescription opioid use, heroin use, and other factors from October 2013 to July 2017. Students were baseline never users of heroin recruited through convenience sampling. Cox regression models tested nonmedical prescription opioid use statuses at survey waves 1 through 7 as a time-varying and time-lagged regressor and subsequent heroin use initiation across waves 2 to 8 as the outcome.ExposuresSelf-reported nonmedical prescription opioid use (past 30-day [current] use vs past 6-month [prior] use without past 30-day use vs no past 6-month use) at each wave from 1 to 7.Main outcomes and measuresSelf-reported heroin use initiation (yes/no) during waves 2 to 8.ResultsOf 3298 participants, 1775 (53.9%) were adolescent girls, 1563 (48.3%) were Hispanic, 548 (17.0%) were Asian, 155 (4.8%) were African American, 529 (16.4%) were non-Hispanic white, and 220 (6.8%) were multiracial. Among baseline never users of heroin in ninth grade with valid data (3298 [97% of cohort enrollees]; mean [SD] age, 14.6 [0.4] years), the number of individuals with outcome data available at each follow-up ranged from 2987 (90.6%) to 3200 (97.0%). The mean per-wave prevalence of prior and current nonmedical prescription opioid use from waves 1 to 7 was 1.9% and 2.7%, respectively. Seventy students (2.1%) initiated heroin use during waves 2 to 8. Prior vs no (hazard ratio, 3.59; 95% CI, 2.14-6.01; P < .001) and current vs no (hazard ratio, 4.37; 95% CI, 2.80-6.81; P < .001) nonmedical prescription opioid use were positively associated with subsequent heroin use initiation. For no, prior, and current nonmedical prescription opioid use statuses at waves 1 to 7, the estimated cumulative probabilities of subsequent heroin use initiation by wave 8 (42-month follow-up) were 1.7%, 10.7%, and 13.1%, respectively. In covariate-adjusted models, associations were attenuated but remained statistically significant and current nonmedical prescription opioid use risk estimates were stronger than corresponding associations of nonopioid substance use with subsequent heroin use initiation.Conclusions and relevanceNonmedical prescription opioid use was prospectively associated with subsequent heroin use initiation during 4 years of adolescence among Los Angeles youth. Further research is needed to understand whether this association is causal.

Project description:US opioid overdose death rates have increased between 2000 and 2014. While, the increase in prescription opioid use has been linked to the increase in heroin use, there are reasons to view this relationship as a partial explanation for the recent increase in heroin-related harms. This study documents the differences in trends in prescription opioid overdose-related (POD) and heroin overdose-related (HOD) hospitalizations.Data come from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) for the years 2000 through 2014. POD and HOD hospitalizations were abstracted from ICD-9 codes. Rates of POD and HOD by census region and census division were constructed along with separate rates for age and race. Regression analysis analyzing trends across region were estimated along with graphs for documenting differences in POD and HOD rates.POD hospitalization rates were highest in the South and lowest in the Northeast. HOD hospitalization rates were highest in the Northeast region and grew the fastest in the Midwest. There was statistically significant heterogeneity in HOD trends but not POD trends across the four regions between 2000 and 2014. Between 2012 and 2014 POD rates decreased in eight of the nine census divisions, with only New England showing an increase. HOD hospitalization rates increased in all nine census divisions between 2012 and 2014. Both POD and HOD rates show different demographic patterns across the nine census divisions.Comparing POD and HOD hospitalization trends reveals significant disparities in geographic as well as demographic distributions. These epidemics are evolving and the simple opioid-to-heroin transition story is both supported and challenged by this paper. The opioid pill, heroin and fentanyl crises are intertwined yet increasingly have drivers and outcomes that support examining them as distinct. Addressing these complex and interrelated epidemics will require innovative public health research and interventions which need to consider local and regional contexts.

Project description:ImportanceBetween 1997 and 2017, the United States saw increases in nonmedical prescription opioid use and its consequences, as well as changes in marijuana policies. Ecological-level research hypothesized that medical marijuana legalization may reduce prescription opioid use by allowing medical marijuana as an alternative.ObjectivesTo investigate the association of state-level medical marijuana law enactment with individual-level nonmedical prescription opioid use and prescription opioid use disorder among prescription opioid users and to determine whether these outcomes varied by age and racial/ethnic groups.Design, setting, and participantsThis cross-sectional study used restricted data on 627 000 individuals aged 12 years and older from the 2004 to 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a population-based survey representative of the civilian population of the United States. Analyses were completed from March 2018 to May 2018.ExposuresTime-varying indicator of state-level medical marijuana law enactment (0 = never law enactment, 1 = before law enactment, and 2 = after law enactment).Main outcomes and measuresPast-year nonmedical prescription opioid use and prescription opioid use disorder among prescription opioid users. Odds ratios of nonmedical prescription opioid use and prescription opioid use disorder comparing the period before and after law enactment were presented overall, by age and racial/ethnic group, and adjusted for individual- and state-level confounders.ResultsThe study sample included 627 000 participants (51.51% female; 9.88% aged 12-17 years, 13.30% aged 18-25 years, 14.30% aged 26-34 years, 25.02% aged 35-49 years, and 37.50% aged ≥50 years; the racial/ethnic distribution was 66.97% non-Hispanic white, 11.83% non-Hispanic black, 14.47% Hispanic, and 6.73% other). Screening and interview response rates were 82% to 91% and 71% to 77%, respectively. Overall, there were small changes in nonmedical prescription opioid use prevalence after medical marijuana law enactment (4.32% to 4.86%; adjusted odds ratio, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.06-1.20). Prescription opioid use disorder prevalence among prescription opioid users decreased slightly after law enactment, but the change was not statistically significant (15.41% to 14.76%; adjusted odds ratio, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.81-1.11). Outcomes were similar when stratified by age and race/ethnicity.Conclusions and relevanceThis study found little evidence of an association between medical marijuana law enactment and nonmedical prescription opioid use or prescription opioid use disorder among prescription opioid users. Further research should disentangle the potential mechanisms through which medical marijuana laws may reduce opioid-related harm.

Dataset Information

Racial/ethnic differences in trends in heroin use and heroin-related risk behaviors among nonmedical prescription opioid users.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Racial/ethnic differences in trends in heroin use and heroin-related risk behaviors among nonmedical prescription opioid users.

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