Opioid Prescriptions Are Highest Among Patients With Mental Health Disorders

A recent study showed that prescription opioid use is highest among patients with mental health conditions like mood and anxiety disorders, accounting for more than half of all opioids prescribed in the United States.

The extent to which adults with mental health disorders in the United States are prescribed opioids has not been adequately reported in the past.
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To better determine the relationship between opioid use and mental health disorders, the cross-sectional study evaluated a nationally representative sample of the noninstitutionalized U.S. adult population from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS).

The researchers estimated that, among the 38.6 million (16% of the total US population) Americans with mental health disorders, 7.2 million (18.7%) take prescription opioids. Prescription opioid use was defined as receiving at least 2 prescriptions in one calendar year.

The researchers found that adults with mental health disorders were significantly more likely to use opioids vs adults without mental health disorders. Results of the study showed that, of the 115 million opioid prescriptions distributed in the United States per year, a total of 60 million (51.4%) of these are prescribed to adults with mental health disorders.

Opioid users with mental health disorders were more likely to be middle-aged, female, non-Hispanic white, and either divorced, separated, or widowed, compared with opioid users without mental health disorders. The most common oral opioids prescribed were hydrocodone with acetaminophen, tramadol, and hydrocodone.

Adjusted analyses indicated that having a mental health disorder was associated with prescription opioid use overall.

“The 16% of Americans who have mental health disorders receive over half of all opioids prescribed in the United States,” the researchers concluded. “Improving pain management among this population is critical to reduce national dependency on opioids.”

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Davis MA, Lin LA, Liu H, Sites BD. Prescription opioid use among adults with mental health disorders in the United States. J Am Board Fam Med. 2017;30(4). doi:10.3122/jabfm.2017.04.170112.