Medical and nonmedical use of prescription pain medication by youth in a Detroit-area public school district

Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the nonmedical use of prescription pain medications in a sample of public school students in the Detroit metropolitan area. The Web-based survey occurred during a 2-week period in May 2003 and drew on a diverse population between the ages of 10 and 18 years. An 87% response rate was achieved, providing a final sample of 1017. Twenty-two percent of girls and 10% of boys reported lifetime nonmedical use of a pain medication (χ 2 = 25.2, d.f. = 1, p < 0.001). Of these students who reported lifetime nonmedical use of a pain medication, 15% of girls and 7% of boys reported past year use (χ 2 = 12.7, d.f. = 1, p < 0.01). Compared to nonusers, nonmedical users of prescription pain medication were seven times more likely to smoke cigarettes, five times more likely to drink alcohol and smoke marijuana, almost four times more likely to binge drink, and eight times more likely to have used other illicit drugs. Of those reporting lifetime nonmedical use of prescription pain medication, 70% noted who gave them the drugs; 32% reported getting the drugs from a family member, 16% from a friend and 13% from a dealer or theft.

Non-prescribed use of pain relievers among adolescents in the United States

“…To date, only a few studies have examined non-prescribed use of pain relievers among adolescents using representative population-based samples. Boyd and colleagues (2006a) examined non-prescribed use of prescription pain relievers among 1017 students in grades 5 through 10 from a Detroit-area public school district and found that 22% of females reported lifetime non-prescribed use of pain relievers compared with 10% of males (Boyd et al, 2006a). McCabe and colleagues (2007a) examined prescribed and non-prescribed medication use among 1086 students in grades 7 through 12 from a Detroit-area public school district.…”

“…Together, the available data suggest that non-prescribed use of pain relievers is more prevalent among girls than among boys (e.g., Boyd et al, 2006a;McCabe et al, 2007a). In addition, the use of non-prescribed pain relievers may be influenced by medical exposure to pain relievers, by health conditions that could lead to non-prescribed use for self-medication purposes, and by the prior use of alcohol and other commonly used drugs (e.g., marijuana and inhalants) (Boyd et al, 2006a;McCabe et al, 2007a;Sung et al, 2005).…”

Non-medical use of prescription drugs by young men: impact of potentially traumatic events and of social-environmental stressors

“…Stressors such as parents being treated for chronic pain or having their own problems with NMUPD or SU are well established risk factors for the initiation of NMUPD in adolescents (Boyd et al, 2006; Nargiso, Ballard, & Skeer, 2015; Tucker et al, 2015). Thus, when assessing the influence of this family factor on NMUPD, one would have expected stronger associations.…”

“…These different preferences have also been shown to evolve distinctly for each medication over time, further reinforcing the idea that they are chosen with specific regard to a perceived individual problem and the precise effects that the substance can have on it (McCabe, Kloska, Veliz, Jager, & Schulenberg, 2016). In addition, it is well established that NMUPD by young people often shows concomitant use of alcohol or illicit substances (Boyd, Esteban McCabe, & Teter, 2006; Ford, 2009; Kelly, Wells, Pawson, LeClair, & Parsons, 2014). …”

Actitudes, conocimientos y prácticas frente a la automedicación con productos herbales y psicofármacos en estudiantes de medicina de Medellín-Colombia

“…De modo similar a lo reportado por otros investigadores, las mujeres en nuestro estudio se automedican en mayor proporción que los hombres 18,19 . Sin embargo, un estudio de Evans y Sullivan no reportaron diferencias en cuanto al sexo en la automedicación de psicofármacos 20 .…”