261262 Prescription drug use and misuse among active duty military service members

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 2:30 PM - 2:50 PM

Kimberley Marshall, PhD , Defense Health Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, TRICARE Management Activity, Falls Church, VA
Diana Jeffery, Ph.D. , Defense Health Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, TRICARE Management Activity, Falls Church, VA
Kevin Klette, PhD , Drug Testing and Program Policy, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Washington, DC
Sarah Godby, MA , Social Marketing and Applied Research Team, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Arlington, VA
Patrick Koeppl, MA , Social Marketing and Applied Research Team, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Arlington, VA
Brittany Dobosz, MPH , Social Marketing and Applied Research Team, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Arlington, VA
Madhavi Rao, MPH , Social Marketing and Applied Research Team, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Arlington, VA
Background: Although the prevalence of tobacco and illicit drug use among active duty military service members has declined in recent years, a recent DoD survey reported that the prevalence of prescription drug misuse among active duty personnel nearly tripled from 2005 to 2008 (Bray et al., 2010).

Methods: To better understand prescription drug use and misuse among active duty personnel, the TRICARE Management Authority (TMA) conducted an online audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI) survey of 5,092 active duty service members over age 18.

Results: Six percent (6.3%; n=319) of respondents were identified as having misused prescription medication; misuse was identified if a respondent reported using a prescription medication while doing at least one of the following within the past year: 1) overusing prescription medications, 2) using prescription medications not prescribed to them, or 3) using prescription medication in combination with alcohol.

Pain medication was the prescription type used and misused most frequently; nearly 90% (n=286) of all misuse involved pain medication. Although no statistically significant differences were detected by deployment status (p=0.832), a statistically significant association was found between reported misuse and health status. Those who reported poorer health status (overall, physical, and emotional) or poorer quality of sleep were more likely to report misuse (p<0.001).

Conclusion: Health status rather than deployment status appears to be the motivating factor for prescription drug misuse. These findings will help inform current military programs designed to prevent, detect, and treat active duty personnel and their family members who may self-medicate or misuse prescription drugs.

Learning Areas:
Public health administration or related administration
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the prevalence of prescription drug misuse among active duty service members over age 18 in the U.S. military. 2. Identify factors associated with prescription drug misuse among this population. 3. Assess relationship between deployment status and prescription drug misuse among this population.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the co-govt sponsor of the study of prescription drug use and misuse among active duty military service members. I am qualified because I have worked as a survey research manager for DoD and other federal agency health research contracts for five years, including health behavior and healthcare topics. I have given many presentations on survey results from these projects and managed the survey administration and analysis of this survey.
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.