234200 Overview of the misuse of prescription pain relievers: Findings from SAMHSA's national surveys

Monday, November 8, 2010 : 2:30 PM - 2:50 PM

RADM Peter Delany, PhD , Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, MD
     
Prescription pain relievers, when used under medical supervision, can be an important therapy for the relief of pain. However, when taken for other than medical purposes, these medications can have serious consequences and may lead to dependence. Recent estimates from SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) show an increase in non-medical use of prescription pain relievers from 936,000 individuals in 2002 to 1.395 million individuals in 2008. Findings from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) estimated that the number of emergency department (ED) visits involving the non-medical use of narcotic pain relievers rose from 144,644 in 2004 to 305,885 in 2008. The most frequently identified products are oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methadone. Finally, recent reports from the Drug and Alcohol Services Information System (DASIS) indicate that the proportion of all substance abuse treatment admissions aged 12 or older that reported any pain reliever abuse increased more than fourfold between 1998 and 2008, from 2.2 to 9.8 percent. This presentation will utilize the findings from these three surveys to characterize the growing problem of prescription drug misuse in the United States.

Learning Areas:
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Assess the level of misuse of prescription pain relievers in the United States and its impact on public health. Describe the level and types of adverse consequences from misuse of prescription pain relievers. Discuss the impact of the growing use of prescription pain on the public treatment system.

Keywords: Prescription Drug Use Patterns, Drug Abuse

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Director of the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration which manages the surveys from which the data is drawn for the presentation.
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: 3287.1: APHA Education Board ATOD-SAMHSA Session: Non-medical use of prescription drugs: What we know; what we need to know; and what we can do to help