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Nonmedical prescription opioid use and illegal drug use: initiation trajectory and related risks among people who use illegal drugs in Vancouver, Canada Cheng, Tessa; Small, Will; Nosova, Ekaterina; Hogg, Robert S.; Hayashi, Kanna; Kerr, Thomas; DeBeck, Kora

Abstract

Objective: We investigated the prevalence of and risk factors associated with initiating nonmedical prescription opioid use (NMPOU) before and after illegal drugs using data from two linked cohort studies of street youth and adults who use illegal drugs in Vancouver, Canada. All participants who attended a study visit between 2013 and 2016 were eligible for the primary analyses. Results: Among 512 youth and 833 adult participants, the prevalence of NMPOU was extremely high (88% among street youth; 90% among adults), and over one-third of those who reported engaging in NMPOU had initiated NMPOU before illegal drug use (vs. transitioning from illegal drugs to NMPOU). Participants who reported either transitioning to or from NMPOU had higher risk profiles, particularly related to substance use, when compared with those who reported never engaging in NMPOU. Sub-analyses restricted to only those who engaged in NMPOU found few statistically significant differences between those who initiated NMPOU prior to illegal drugs versus those who initiated illegal drugs prior to NMPOU. Findings suggest that among people who use illegal drugs, early NMPOU trajectories do not appear to critically shape future patterns and practices.

Item Metadata

Title
Nonmedical prescription opioid use and illegal drug use: initiation trajectory and related risks among people who use illegal drugs in Vancouver, Canada
Creator
Cheng, Tessa; Small, Will; Nosova, Ekaterina; Hogg, Robert S.; Hayashi, Kanna; Kerr, Thomas; DeBeck, Kora
Contributor
British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS; St. Paul's Hospital (Vancouver, B.C.)
Publisher
BioMed Central
Date Issued
2018-01-16
Description
Objective: We investigated the prevalence of and risk factors associated with initiating nonmedical prescription opioid use (NMPOU) before and after illegal drugs using data from two linked cohort studies of street youth and adults who use illegal drugs in Vancouver, Canada. All participants who attended a study visit between 2013 and 2016 were eligible for the primary analyses. Results: Among 512 youth and 833 adult participants, the prevalence of NMPOU was extremely high (88% among street youth; 90% among adults), and over one-third of those who reported engaging in NMPOU had initiated NMPOU before illegal drug use (vs. transitioning from illegal drugs to NMPOU). Participants who reported either transitioning to or from NMPOU had higher risk profiles, particularly related to substance use, when compared with those who reported never engaging in NMPOU. Sub-analyses restricted to only those who engaged in NMPOU found few statistically significant differences between those who initiated NMPOU prior to illegal drugs versus those who initiated illegal drugs prior to NMPOU. Findings suggest that among people who use illegal drugs, early NMPOU trajectories do not appear to critically shape future patterns and practices.
Subject
Prescription opioid; Addiction; Risk behaviour; Street youth
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2018-01-17
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
DOI
10.14288/1.0363072
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/64393
Affiliation
Medicine, Faculty of; Other UBC; Non UBC; Medicine, Department of
Citation
BMC Research Notes. 2018 Jan 16;11(1):35
Publisher DOI
10.1186/s13104-018-3152-9
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Copyright Holder
The Author(s)
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

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Rights

Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)