Table 1.
Prescription opioid misuse motive prevalence by age group (N = 5,826)
| Motives* | Adolescents (12–17 y; A) | Young Adults (18–25 y; B) | 26–34 y (C) | 35–49 y (D) | ≥50 y (E) | Pairwise Comparisons‡ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sample size | (N = 977) | (N = 2,156) | (N = 1,229) | (N = 1,049) | (N = 415) | |
| % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | |||
| To relieve pain | 56.1 (51.9–60.3) | 59.6 (56.6–62.5) | 69.7 (66.6–72.7) | 76.4 (73.5–79.0) | 84.7 (79.1–89.0) | A, B < C < D < E |
| To relax | 27.8 (24.1–31.7) | 32.5 (29.7–35.4) | 31.6 (28.5–34.9) | 23.2 (20.4–26.3) | 17.4 (12.7–23.3) | D, E < A, B, C |
| To experiment | 15.6 (12.8–18.8) | 12.5 (10.7–14.4) | 5.4 (3.7–7.6) | 1.7 (0.9–3.0) | 1.4 (0.7–3.1) | D, E < C < B < A |
| To get high | 25.8 (22.5–29.4) | 31.9 (29.7–34.2) | 25.8 (22.5–29.4) | 16.1 (13.2–19.5) | 6.9 (4.7–10.2) | E < D < C < B;E, D < A |
| To sleep | 14.4 (12.0–17.2) | 17.4 (15.1–20.0) | 14.9 (12.1–18.1) | 12.6 (10.3–15.2) | 16.4 (12.5–21.2) | D < B |
| To help with emotions | 14.1 (11.3–17.4) | 14.1 (12.3–16.0) | 10.8 (9.1–12.7) | 8.7 (6.8–11.0) | 6.3 (4.1–9.7) | D, E < A, B;E < C;C < B |
| To alter other drug effects | 2.0 (1.2–3.3) | 3.7 (3.1–4.5) | 3.0 (1.9–4.5) | 1.5 (0.8–2.8) | 1.2 (0.5–2.9) | D, E < B |
| Because I am “hooked” | 0.9 (0.4–1.9) | 3.2 (2.3–4.4) | 5.6 (4.3–7.3) | 3.4 (2.3–5.0) | 1.5 (0.7–3.4) | A < B, C, D;B, D, E < C |
| Other reason | 5.2 (3.8–7.1) | 2.6 (1.8–3.7) | 2.2 (1.5–3.2) | 3.0 (2.0–4.4) | 1.3 (0.5–3.4) | B, C, D, E < A |
| Motive category† | ||||||
| Pain relief only | 38.4 (34.4–42.6) | 35.1 (32.2–38.2) | 43.6 (39.9–47.5) | 55.0 (51.3–58.7) | 65.4 (58.6–71.6) | Base outcome |
| Non–pain relief only | 43.9 (39.7–48.2) | 40.4 (37.5–43.4) | 30.3 (27.3–33.4) | 23.7 (21.0–26.6) | 15.3 (11.0–20.9) | E < D < C < A, B |
| Mixed motives | 17.7 (14.8–21.1) | 24.5 (21.9–27.3) | 26.1 (22.8–29.6) | 21.4 (18.3–24.8) | 19.3 (15.2–24.2) | D, E < B, C;E < A;A < B |
Source: 2015–16 NSDUH surveys.
CI = confidence interval; NSDUH = National Survey on Drug Use and Health; POM = prescription opioid misuse.
*
Individual opioid motives are not mutually exclusive (i.e., “select as many as apply”) and are from the last POM episode in those with past-year POM.
†
Motive category variables are mutually exclusive and are based on the individual opioid motives selected by respondents.
‡
Pairwise comparisons are based on logistic or multinomial logistic models that control for sex, race/ethnicity, household income, and population density of residence; significant listed differences are Bonferroni-corrected for 10 comparisons (P ≤ 0.005).