@article{ref1,
title="Youth perspectives of prescription pain medication in the opioid crisis",
journal="Journal of pediatrics",
year="2020",
author="Harbaugh, Calista M. and Vu, Joceline V. and DeJonckheere, Melissa and Kim, Noa and Nichols, Lauren P. and Chang, Tammy",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: To characterize current youth perspectives of prescription pain medication. STUDY DESIGN: In total, 1047 youths aged 14-24 years were recruited by targeted social media advertisements to match national demographic benchmarks. Youths were queried by open-ended text message prompts about exposure and access to prescription pain medication, perceived safety of prescribed and nonprescribed medication, and associations with the word &quot;opioid.&quot; Responses were analyzed inductively for emerging themes and frequencies. <br><br>RESULTS: Among 745 respondents (71.2% response rate), 439 identified as female (59.3%), 561 as white (75.8%), and mean age was 18.3 ± 3.2 years. Previous exposure to prescription pain medication was reported by 377 respondents (52.0%), most commonly related to dentistry (32.8%), surgery (19.2%), and injury (12.0%). Nonmedical sources of access to prescription pain medication were identified by 256 respondents (36.9%) and medical sources other than their doctor by an additional 111 respondents (16.0%). Three additional themes emerged from youth responses: (1) prescribed medication was thought to be safer than nonprescribed medication, based on trust in doctors; (2) risks of addiction and overdose were thought to be greater for nonprescribed medication; (3) respondents had a widely ranging understanding of the word &quot;opioid,&quot; from historical to current events, medical to illicit substances, and personal to public associations. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Although youths are aware of the opioid crisis, they perceive less risk of prescription pain medication prescribed by a doctor, than from other sources. Policies should target education to youth in clinical and nonclinical settings, highlighting the risks of addiction and overdose with all opioids.<br><br>Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0022-3476",
doi="10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.02.003",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.02.003"
}