TY - JOUR
PY - 2015//
TI - Prescription opioid use and non-fatal overdose in a cohort of injection drug users
JO - American journal of drug and alcohol abuse encompassing all addictive disorders
A1 - Lake, Stephanie
A1 - Wood, Evan
A1 - Buxton, Jane
A1 - Dong, Huiru
A1 - Montaner, Julio
A1 - Kerr, Thomas
SP - 257
EP - 263
VL - 41
IS - 3
N2 - BACKGROUND: There is growing concern regarding rising rates of prescription drug-related deaths among the general North American population as well as increasing availability of illicitly obtained prescription opioids. Concurrently among people who inject drugs (IDU), illicit prescription opioid use has increased while non-fatal overdose remains a major source of morbidity.
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether the use of prescription opioids was associated with non-fatal overdose among IDU in Vancouver, Canada.
METHODS: Data was obtained from two open prospective cohorts of IDU between December 2005 and May 2013. We used generalized estimating equation (GEE) logistic regression to evaluate the association between prescription opioid use and non-fatal overdose, adjusting for various social, demographic, and behavioral factors.
RESULTS: There were 1614 IDU, including 541 (33.5%) women, who were recruited and included in this analysis. At baseline, 526 (32.6%) reported using prescription opioids and 118 (7.3%) reported experiencing an overdose in the previous six months. In a multivariable analysis, prescription opioid use remained independently associated with non-fatal overdose (adjusted odds ratio: 1.61, 95% confidence interval: 1.32-1.95), after adjusting for confounders.
CONCLUSION: We observed relatively high rates of prescription opioid use among IDU in this setting, and found an independent association between prescription opioid use and non-fatal overdose. Our data is likely representative of riskier substance use associated with those who use prescription opioids within our sample. Interventions to prevent and respond to overdoses should consider the higher risk profiles of IDU who use prescription opioids.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 0095-2990 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/00952990.2014.998366 ID - ref1 ER -