Author:
Young April M,Havens Jennifer R,Leukefeld Carl G
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Nonmedical prescription opioid use has emerged as a major public health concern in recent years, particularly in rural Appalachia. Little is known about the routes of administration (ROA) involved in nonmedical prescription opioid use among rural and urban drug users. The purpose of this study was to describe rural-urban differences in ROA for nonmedical prescription opioid use.
Methods
A purposive sample of 212 prescription drug users was recruited from a rural Appalachian county (n = 101) and a major metropolitan area (n = 111) in Kentucky. Consenting participants were given an interviewer-administered questionnaire examining sociodemographics, psychiatric disorders, and self-reported nonmedical use and ROA (swallowing, snorting, injecting) for the following prescription drugs: buprenorphine, fentanyl, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, methadone, morphine, OxyContin® and other oxycodone.
Results
Among urban participants, swallowing was the most common ROA, contrasting sharply with substance-specific variation in ROA among rural participants. Among rural participants, snorting was the most frequent ROA for hydrocodone, methadone, OxyContin®, and oxycodone, while injection was most common for hydromorphone and morphine. In age-, gender-, and race-adjusted analyses, rural participants had significantly higher odds of snorting hydrocodone, OxyContin®, and oxycodone than urban participants. Urban participants had significantly higher odds of swallowing hydrocodone and oxycodone than did rural participants. Notably, among rural participants, 67% of hydromorphone users and 63% of morphine users had injected the drugs.
Conclusions
Alternative ROA are common among rural drug users. This finding has implications for rural substance abuse treatment and harm reduction, in which interventions should incorporate methods to prevent and reduce route-specific health complications of drug use.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Psychiatry and Mental health,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,Medicine (miscellaneous)
Reference69 articles.
1. Miller N, Greenfeld A: Patient characteristics and risks factors for development of dependence on hydrocodone and oxycodone. Am J Ther. 2004, 11: 26-32. 10.1097/00045391-200401000-00008.
2. Woolf C, Hashmi M: Use and abuse of opioid analgesics: potential methods to prevent and deter non-medical consumption of prescription opioids. Curr Opin Investig Drugs. 2004, 6: 61-66.
3. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: Nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers. The NSDUH Report. 2004, Rockville, MD; Office of Applied Studies
4. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: Results from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. 2007, Rockville, MD: Office of Applied Studies
5. Drug Enforcement Administration. OxyContin®: Pharmaceutical Division: : Drug Intelligence Brief. Arlington, VA. 2002
Cited by
99 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献