The proportion of people reporting use of prescription opioids for reasons other than medical necessity fell between 2003 and 2013, but use disorders and overdose deaths increased, according to a new study.
“The results underscore the importance of addressing the prescription opioid crisis,” said lead author Dr. Beth Han of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in Rockville, Maryland.
High-intensity opioid use increased during a time of increased prescribing of these drugs during the 2000s, Han told Reuters Health by email.
The researchers used survey data from 472,000 people who reported their nonmedical use and use disorders related to opioids between 2003 and 2012, as well as national vital statistics on cause of death for the same period.
The rate of nonmedical use of opioids – not using a prescription as directed, or using a prescription that was written for someone else – fell from 5.4 to 4.9 percent over the 10-year period, but during the same time, the rate of use disorders rose from 0.6 to 0.9 percent.
The number of people reporting opioid use for more than 200 days also increased.
