TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2015//
TI  - Racial/ethnic differences in trends in heroin use and heroin-related risk behaviors among nonmedical prescription opioid users
JO  - Drug and alcohol dependence
A1  - Martins, Silvia S.
A1  - Santaella-Tenorio, Julian
A1  - Marshall, Brandon D. L.
A1  - Maldonado, Adriana
A1  - Cerdá, Magdalena
SP  - 278
EP  - 283
VL  - 151
IS  - 
N2  - BACKGROUND: This study examines changing patterns of past-year heroin use and heroin-related risk behaviors among individuals with nonmedical use of prescription opioids (NMUPO) by racial/ethnic groups in the United States. <br><br>METHODS: We used data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) from 2002 to 2005 and 2008 to 2011, resulting in a total sample of N=448,597. <br><br>RESULTS: Past-year heroin use increased among individuals with NMUPO and increases varied by frequency of past year NMUPO and race/ethnicity. Those with NMUPO in the 2008-2011 period had almost twice the odds of heroin use as those with NMUPO in the 2002-2005 period (OR=1.89, 95%CI: 1.50, 2.39), with higher increases in non-Hispanic (NH) Whites and Hispanics. In 2008-2011, the risk of past year heroin use, ever injecting heroin, past-year heroin abuse or dependence, and the perception of availability of heroin increased as the frequency of NMUPO increased across respondents of all race/ethnicities. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Individuals with NMUPO, particularly non-Hispanic Whites, are at high risk of heroin use and heroin-related risk behaviors. These results suggest that frequent nonmedical users of prescription opioids, regardless of race/ethnicity, should be the focus of novel public health efforts to prevent and mitigate the harms of heroin use.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0376-8716
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.03.020
ID  - ref1
ER  -