TY - JOUR PY - 2014// TI - Non-medical use of non-opioid psychotherapeutic medications in a community-based cohort of HIV-infected indigent adults JO - Drug and alcohol dependence A1 - Vijayaraghavan, Maya A1 - Freitas, Daniel A1 - Bangsberg, David R. A1 - Miaskowski, Christine A1 - Kushel, Margot B. SP - 263 EP - 267 VL - 143 IS - N2 - BACKGROUND: Non-opioid psychotherapeutic medications significantly increase the risk of opioid overdose-related deaths. We prospectively followed HIV-infected indigent adults sampled from the community to examine rates of and factors associated with non-medical use of benzodiazepines, muscle relaxants, and prescription stimulants.

METHODS: We interviewed participants quarterly for 2 years about alcohol and illicit substance use; depression; use of prescribed opioid analgesics, benzodiazepines and muscle relaxants; opioid analgesic misuse; and non-medical use (i.e., use without a prescription) of benzodiazepines, muscle relaxants, and prescription stimulants. Using mixed-effects multivariate logistic regression, we determined factors associated with non-medical use of benzodiazepines, muscle relaxants, and prescription stimulants.

RESULTS: Among the 296 participants at enrollment, 52.0% reported taking opioid analgesics that had been prescribed, 17.9% took benzodiazepines that had been prescribed, and 8.1% took muscle relaxants that had been prescribed. Over the 2-year study interval, 53.4% reported prescription opioid misuse, 25.3% reported non-medical use of benzodiazepines, 11.5% reported non-medical use of muscle relaxants, and 6.1% reported non-medical use of prescription stimulants. In multivariable analysis, opioid analgesic misuse in the past 90 days was associated with non-medical use of benzodiazepines, muscle relaxants, and prescription stimulants during the same time interval. Illicit substance use and depression were not associated with non-medical use of these medications.

CONCLUSIONS: Prescription opioid analgesic misuse is associated with non-medical use of other psychotherapeutic medications. Health care providers should monitor for non-medical use of a broad array of psychoactive medications among high-risk populations to minimize harm.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0376-8716 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.06.044 ID - ref1 ER -