Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #112165

Alice Hughes, MSPH and Richard Dart, MD, PhD. Rocky Mountatin Poison & Drug Center, 777 Bannock St, Mail Code 0180, Denver, CO 80204, 303-739-1229, Alice.Hughes@rmpdc.org

Prescription drug abuse is described as an epidemic in the US, surpassing heroin abuse. Although benzodiazepines and opioids are the main drug classes involved, little is understood about this increasing phenomenon. PC present an often underutlized resource for surveillance of prescription drug abuse and misuse. 15 participating PC, serving over 102 million people, collected intentional exposure calls (suicide, abuse, misuse, and intentional unknown), as a surrogate for abuse and misuse, involving fentanyl, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, methadone, morphine, oxycodone (excluding OxyContin®), and OxyContin® alone, for a one year period, 10/03 – 10/04. Total intentional exposure call rates for these opioids per 100,000 population served by PC: Opioid/Rate: Hydrocodone 5.06 Oxycodone 1.52 Methadone 0.86 OxyContin® 0.80 Morphine 0.56 Fentanyl 0.33 Hydromorphone 0.10. Intentional exposure call rates for hydrocodone are 2 fold greater than all oxycodone products, 3.3 fold than oxycodone alone and 6.3 fold than OxyContin®. By geographical location, rates were highest in Appalachia, including West Virginia who had the highest abuse and misuse rate of 26.81 per 100,000 population for all opioids combined. ED mentions from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), 2002 data, illustrated a similar pattern among narcotic analgesics consisting of 39% hydrocodone, 35% oxycodone (including OxyContin®), and 19% methadone. PCC abuse and misuse rates, similar to DAWN ED mentions, can provide a different facet of prescription drug abuse and misuse. PCC offer up-to-date surveillance, available daily, of prescription opioids and present geographical data to the level of 3-digit zip code.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss monitoring prescription drug abuse/misuse using Poison Centers.
• List which prescription opioid has the highest rates of intentional exposure calls

Keywords: Surveillance, Prescription Drug Use Patterns

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation