Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: J Occup Environ Med. 2022 Jan 1;64(1):39–45. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000002328

Table 2.

Temporal trends in the age-adjusted prevalence1 of prescription opioid and illicit drug use by characteristics among US adult workers 2005–2016

Rx Opioid Use
Chronic Rx Opioid Use2
Illicit Drug Use3
N n Overall Prev. (95%CI) Slope4 (SE) p for trend4 n Prev. (95%CI)2 Slope4 (SE) p for trend4 n Prev. (95%CI) Slope4 (SE) p for trend4




US adult workers 19,858 706 4.1 (3.7, 4.5) −0.27 (0.12) 0.0892 374 54.4 (50.5, 58.2) 4.12 (0.61) 0.0025 1,949 10.2 (9.4, 11.1) 0.53 (0.13) 0.0165




Age
 18–29 5,096 149 3.5 (2.9 4.2) −0.68 (0.05) 0.0001 37 27.1 (18.8, 37.3) 5.27 (4.03)# 0.2611# 909 19.0 (17.3, 20.9) 1.94 (0.47) 0.0145
 30–44 6,501 224 3.7 (3.1, 4.4) −0.26 (0.13) 0.1235 115 52.8 (45.5, 59.9) 6.98 (1.09) 0.0031 671 10.8 (9.6, 12.1) 0.21 (0.36) 0.5978
 45–59 5,592 217 4.7 (3.9,5.6) −0.06 (0.26) 0.8224 142 70.1 (62.1, 77.0) 1.24 (1.99) 0.5654 368 7.1 (6.0, 8.3) 0.30 (0.29) 0.3662
 60+ 2,669 116 4.5 (3.6, 5.7) −0.27 (0.42)# 0.5613# 80 67.6 (54.4, 78.4) 9.39 (1.86)# 0.0072# 1 - - -
Gender
 Male 10,593 328 3.6 (3.1, 4.2) −0.43 (0.23) 0.1368 178 53.1 (46.1, 60.0) 3.78 (2.14) 0.1521 1,300 12.8 (11.7, 13.9) 0.44 (0.23) 0.1266
 Female 9,265 378 4.6 (4.0, 5.2) −0.11 (0.07) 0.1735 196 55.4 (50.2, 60.6) 5.09 (1.22) 0.0142 649 7.3 (6.5, 8.2) 0.59 (0.13) 0.0096
Race/Ethnicity
 White (NH) 7,919 398 4.7 (4.2, 5.3) −0.37 (0.16) 0.0760 222 55.4 (50.2, 60.5) 4.66 (0.68) 0.0023 907 11.1 (10.0, 12.2) 0.40 (0.20) 0.1128
 Black (NH) 4,195 141 3.4 (2.9, 4.1) 0.10 (0.11) 0.4421 74 50.3 (41.6, 59.1) 0.30 (3.83)# 0.9409# 514 12.5 (11.4, 13.6) 0.86 (0.47) 0.1373
 Hispanic 5,531 117 2.3 (1.9, 2.8) −0.10 (0.07) 0.2639 48 39.6 (30.0, 50.0) 4.49 (2.37)# 0.1307# 372 7.0 (6.1, 8.0) 0.80 (0.16) 0.0071
 Others (NH) 2,213 50 3.2 (2.1, 4.7) −0.16 (0.56)# 0.7823# 30 67.0 (54.3, 77.6) 5.61 (3.69)# 0.2263# 156 6.9 (5.5, 8.6) 1.04 (0.33)# 0.0331#
Education level
 < High school 3,745 119 4.1 (3.1, 5.4) −0.59 (0.19)# 0.0342# 63 47.9 (37.7, 58.3) 6.36 (3.06)# 0.0348# 351 11.8 (10.4, 13.4) 0.49 (0.26) 0.1361
 High / GED 4,115 175 4.7 (3.8, 5.7) −0.14 (0.21) 0.5354 102 61.4 (52.8, 69.3) 4.89 (3.30) 0.2119 495 12.3 (10.9, 13.8) 0.57 (0.32) 0.1481
 Some college 5,804 242 5.0 (4.3, 5.7) −0.22 (0.25) 0.4344 130 54.7 (47.7, 61.5) 4.48 (2.52) 0.1503 659 11.6 (10.6, 12.7) 0.40 (0.35) 0.3183
 College degree 5,180 147 2.9 (2.4, 3.6) −0.50 (0.15) 0.0269 77 49.9 (41.5, 58.3) 1.36 (1.99)# 0.5304# 303 7.0 (5.5, 8.8) 0.59 (0.21) 0.0519
Alcohol consumption5
 None 5,903 198 3.8 (3.2, 4.6) −0.17 (0.19) 0.4082 119 62.8 (55.8, 69.4) 2.42 (2.20) 0.3324 252 4.6 (3.9, 5.5) 0.02 (0.13) 0.9111
 Moderate 6,885 239 3.9 (3.2, 4.7) −0.08 (0.19) 0.7140 107 45.0 (37.1, 53.1) 5.29 (2.16) 0.0707 1,071 14.2 (12.9, 15.5) 0.49 (0.54) 0.4154
 Heavy 1,453 49 3.8 (2.6, 5.6) −0.23 (0.27)# 0.4425# 31 65.0 (49.6, 77.9) 6.26 (2.61)# 0.1386# 412 26.6 (23.5, 29.9) 1.18 (0.29) 0.0148
Smoking status
 Never 11,386 288 2.8 (2.4, 3.3) −0.32 (0.08) 0.0151 143 48.9 (42.3, 55.5) 0.51 (2.48) 0.8480 601 5.0 (4.5, 5.6) 0.32 (0.18) 0.1533
 Former 3,804 178 5.4 (4.3, 6.8) −0.52 (0.20) 0.0635 97 53.9 (45.7, 61.9) 6.17 (2.99) 0.1083 327 12.9 (10.8, 15.4) 0.77 (0.93) 0.4526
 Current 3,943 221 6.3 (5.4, 7.3) −0.05 (0.29) 0.8729 133 62.4 (53.3, 70.8) 6.95 (2.46) 0.0474 951 22.6 (20.7, 24.5) 1.13 (0.30) 0.0198
Work hours
 <40 hours 6,376 244 4.2 (3.5, 5.0) −0.45 (0.18) 0.0661 129 54.5 (47.4, 61.5) 0.71 (2.95) 0.8225 752 11.5 (10.6, 12.5) 0.69 (0.53) 0.2619
 =40 hours 6,005 173 3.8 (3.1, 4.6) 0.45 (0.13)# 0.1287# 104 61.5 (53.0, 69.2) 6.29 (1.31)# 0.0086# 538 10.2 (8.9, 11.7) 0.40 (0.28) 0.2302
 >40 hours 6,747 225 3.7 (3.1, 44) −0.28 (0.14) 0.1144 118 53.6 (45.8, 61.3) 4.22 (1.82) 0.0818 590 9.1 (8.1, 10.2) 0.53 (0.16) 0.0293
1

The prevalence estimates (%) were weighted and Prevalence estimates were age adjusted to the 2010 U.S. adult workers standard population by Bureau of Labor Statistics, using five age groups: 18–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, 65+ years.

2

Chronic Rx opioid use means taking prescription opioid mediation more than 90 days. When calculating prevalence of chronic Rx opioid use, the denominator is the weighted number of Rx opioid use and the numerator is the weighted number of chronic Rx opioid use.

3

Illicit drugs are the non-prescription opioid drugs included Marijuana, hashish, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, or intravenous use of drugs (cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, steroids, and any other drugs). Participants aged 18–59 years only were asked if they used marijuana, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and needle injections drugs (cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, steroids, and any other drugs) during the past 30 days. Participants aged 18–69 years were asked if they injected any non-prescription drugs during the past 30 days.

4

Slope and p-value for trend were from weighted linear regression.

5

For men, moderate drinking was defined as 1–14 drinks/wk and heavy drinking 15+ drinks/wk. For women, moderate drinking was defined as 1–7 drinks/wk and heavy drinking 7+ drinks/wk.

#

The slope and p for trend are unreliable since prevalence in a survey cycle year is unreliable because the sample in the denominator in each is less than 30 or the relative standard error of the estimate is larger than 30%.