Prescription Opioid Use Among U.S. Adults: Our Brave New World
Authors: Karen E. Lasser
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2017)

Editorials5 September 2017Prescription Opioid Use Among U.S. Adults: Our Brave New WorldKaren E. Lasser, MD, MPHKaren E. Lasser, MD, MPHFrom Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine and School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M17-1559 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail In this issue, Han and colleagues present striking results from an analysis of the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (1). They estimate that 38% of U.S. adults used prescription opioids in the prior year. Among these 92 million persons, 13% reported prescription opioid misuse, and 2% reported a prescription opioid use disorder. Who is most at risk for problems related to opioid medications? In more than 20 years practicing primary care in safety-net health settings, I have come to think of the patients at highest risk as my patients—those with lower levels of education and income and ...References1. Han B, Compton WM, Blanco C, Crane E, Lee J, Jones CM. Prescription opioid use, misuse, and use disorders in U.S. adults: 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Ann Intern Med. 2017;167:293-301. doi:10.7326/M17-0865 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Schroeder SA. Shattuck Lecture. We can do better—improving the health of the American people. N Engl J Med. 2007;357:1221-8. [PMID: 17881753] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Vance JD. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. London: HarperCollins UK; 2016. Google Scholar4. Lasser KE, Hanchate AD, McCormick D, Walley AY, Saitz R, Lin MY, et al. Massachusetts health reform's effect on hospitalizations with substance use disorder-related diagnoses. Health Serv Res. 2017. 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Prostate cancer treatment for economically disadvantaged men: a comparison of county hospitals and private providers. Cancer. 2010;116:1378-84. [PMID: 20101733] doi:10.1002/cncr.24856 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. Liebschutz J, Xuan Z, Shanahan CW, LaRochelle M, Keosaian J, Beers D, et al. Improving adherence to chronic opioid therapy guidelines to reduce opioid misuse in primary care: a cluster randomized controlled trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2017. [Forthcoming]. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine and School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.Acknowledgment: The author thanks Maxim D. Shrayer, PhD, and Robert H. Fletcher, MD, MSc, for reviewing earlier drafts of this manuscript.Grant Support: Dr. Lasser is supported by grant 1R01 DA034252 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M17-1559.Corresponding Author: Karen E. Lasser, MD, MPH, Boston Medical Center, 801 Massachusetts Avenue, 2094, Boston, MA 02118; e-mail, karen.[email protected]org.This article was published at Annals.org on 1 August 2017. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoPrescription Opioid Use, Misuse, and Use Disorders in U.S. Adults: 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Beth Han , Wilson M. Compton , Carlos Blanco , Elizabeth Crane , Jinhee Lee , and Christopher M. Jones Metrics Cited byStrengths and weaknesses of existing data sources to support research to address the opioids crisisSocioeconomic status, fundamental cause theory, and prescription opioid use behaviors: a theoretical examinationIncreasing Rates of Opioid Misuse Among Older Adults Visiting Emergency DepartmentsDrug overdose and child maltreatment across the United States’ rural-urban continuumLimited evidence to measure the impact of chronic pain on health outcomes of Indigenous peopleHow Good Intentions Contributed to Bad Outcomes: The Opioid CrisisOpioids and Disadvantage 5 September 2017Volume 167, Issue 5Page: 351-352KeywordsDrugsHealth careHealth surveysOpioid use disorderOpioidsPain managementPopulation statisticsPrimary care physiciansPublic policyUrine ePublished: 1 August 2017 Issue Published: 5 September 2017 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2017 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...