Assessment of Racial/Ethnic and Income Disparities in the Prescription of Opioids and Other Controlled Medications in California.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Most drug epidemics in the United States have disproportionately affected nonwhite communities. Notably, the current opioid epidemic is heavily concentrated among low-income white communities, and the roots of this racial/ethnic phenomenon have not been adequately explained.

Objective

To examine the degree to which differential exposure to opioids via the health care system by race/ethnicity and income could be driving the observed social gradient of the current opioid epidemic, as well as to compare the trends in the prevalence of prescription opioids with those observed for stimulants and benzodiazepines.

Design, setting, and participants

This population-based study used 2011 through 2015 records from California's prescription drug monitoring program (Con

SUBMITTER: Friedman J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6450285 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature