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133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA |
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Richard Dart, MD, PhD and Alice Hughes, MSPH. Rocky Mountatin Poison & Drug Center, 777 Bannock St, Mail Code 0180, Denver, CO 80204, 303-739-1229, Alice.Hughes@rmpdc.org
Background: Prescription drug abuse is an emerging important public health concern. Allegedly, rural areas have higher rates of prescription drug abuse. We measured the frequency of intentional exposure calls to 8 poison centers (PC) as indicators of misuse and abuse of prescription opioids. Methods: Intentional exposure calls from 11/03/02 through 9/30/03 that involved fentanyl, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, methadone, morphine, oxycodone (excluding OxyContin®) or OxyContin® alone were defined as cases of misuse or abuse. Data were grouped by three-digit zip code into 11 population categories. Results: A 5 fold difference in call rate was found (*per 100,000 total population of 3 digit zip code, population in thousands).
Population: | 100- | 200- | 300- | 400- | 500- | 600- | 700- | 800- | 900- | ||
<100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | 600 | 700 | 800 | 900 | 1,000 | >1,000 | |
Call Rate*: | 15.25 | 10.12 | 7.37 | 5.56 | 6.04 | 8.41 | 8.71 | 5.26 | 9.62 | 4.51 | 3.25 |
ANOVA testing indicates a higher prevalence of intentional exposure calls from lower population areas (p<0.01). Calls involving hydrocodone were most common; fentanyl and hydromorphone were least common. Similar trends in call rates by population area were present for all 7 opioids studied and will be presented. The call rate was greater from low population areas despite lower overall call penetration in these areas. Conclusion: Among several possible reasons for increased PC call rates are higher incidence of prescription drug use/misuse per capita, lack of local medical resources, or increased willingness to call PC in rural areas. Poison centers offer another perspective on rural health disparities.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Rural Populations, 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.
The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA