Factors associated with sedative use and misuse among heroin users.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Rates of both opioid and sedative use and misuse are rising. Comorbid opioid and sedative use is associated with especially severe consequences (e.g., overdose and poor health outcomes). Heroin users report multiple motivations for sedative use, including self-medication. We aimed to understand differences in lifetime substance use characteristics between heroin users with different sedative use histories. METHODS:Substance use data were collected from 385 non-treatment seeking heroin users. Subjects were divided into four lifetime sedative-use groups: no use, medical use only, non-medical use only, and mixed medical and non-medical use. We examined patterns of use of various substances of abuse (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and sedatives) and individual charact

SUBMITTER: Moses TEH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5889740 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature