220947 Prescription and Over the Counter Drug Misuse in the California Public Treatment System: How Youth Fare?

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 : 2:30 PM - 2:45 PM

Rachel Gonzales, PhD, MPH , Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Mary-Lynn Brecht, PhD , Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Larissa Mooney, MD , Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Richard A. Rawson, PhD , Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
     
Prescription and over the counter (OTC) drug misuse has become a focal point of U.S. drug policy and prevention efforts. Increasingly, youth represent one of the fastest growing segments of the general population misusing prescription and OTC drugs. Recent estimates from National surveys indicate that one third of new users of prescription and OTC drugs are youth between the ages of 12 to 17 (9.1%) or 18 to 24 (14.5%). Treatment admission data (2006-07) from the California Outcomes Measurement System was used to examine prescription and OTC drug abuse by client characteristics. Prescription and OTC drugs were reported as primary drugs of abuse among 6,848 treatment admissions, comprising 3.2% of the total 216,781. Opioids were the dominant admission type (85.7%), followed by depressants (4.4%), tranquilizers (3.8%), stimulants (4.2%), and OTC drugs (2.0%). Profiles of client characteristics varied substantially for the different types of prescription/OTC admissions. Prescription/OTC admissions for youth clients under 18 were most likely to be for stimulants (45.3%) or OTC drugs (32.1%), whereas these drugs were reported by very small percentages among other age groups. Differences in gender, race/ethnicity, and mental health status will also be described. Results from this study offer public health professionals useful information about prescription and OTC drug use trends within the California public treatment system. Increasing attention to these patterns by client characteristics can help inform the development of more effective intervention approaches for diverse populations.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Epidemiology
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
By the end of the session, the participants in this session will be able to: 1. Describe the proportion of clients abusing prescription and over-the-counter drugs admitted to the California publicly funded treatment system. 2. Analyze ways in which prescription and over-the-counter drug misuse differs by client characteristics as a way to inform and tailor prevention efforts, especially among youth populations.

Keywords: Adolescents, Prescription Drug Use Patterns

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present because I evalaute and plan health promotion programs for youth on substance abuse prevention and treatment.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4272.0: Epidemiology of adolescent health