Table 4.
Clinical Studies on Increasing Methamphetamine Use Among Individuals Using Opioids and Opioid Use Among Individuals Using Methamphetamine, United States
| First Author, Year (Reference No.) |
Design and Data | Population | Primary Outcome | Key Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Tayyib, 2017 (24) | Serial cross-sectional analysis of individuals recruited from National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System | Aged 18 years or older, had injected drugs during the preceding 12 months, resided in Denver, Colorado, metropolitan area | Differences among heroin injection, methamphetamine injection, and combined injection | Reports of methamphetamine as the most frequently injected drug increased from 2.1% (2005) to 29.6% in (2015); 296 of the 592 participants reported injecting both heroin and methamphetamine in the past 12 months. |
| Cicero, 2020 (46) | Serial cross-sectional analysis of individuals entering treatment centers for opioid use disorder, 2011–2018 | Individuals admitted to one of 270 substance use treatment centers in the Key Informant network belonging to the Survey of Key Informants’ Program (n = 15,741) | Temporal trends in opioid drug use, nonopioid drug use, and polysubstance use | Prevalence of methamphetamine use significantly increased by 85%. The average number of unique, nonopioid drugs used in the past month significantly increased for people who use heroin/nonprescription fentanyl, from 2.3 to 2.5. |
| Ellis, 2018 (30) | Serial cross-sectional analysis of individuals entering a substance use treatment program, 2011–2017 | Individuals ≥18 years of age admitted to substance use treatment centers in the Key Informant network belonging to the Survey of Key Informants’ Program (n = 13,521) | Prevalence and motivation for opioid and methamphetamine use | Percentage of people who use opioids reporting methamphetamine use doubled from 18.8% (second quarter 2011) to 34.2% (first quarter 2017), with increases attributed to increased community accessibility as well as appeal of high from dual use. |
| Glick, 2018 (44) | Serial cross-sectional analysis of PWID in King County, Washington, 2009–2017 | Clients of Seattle and King County NSEP and Seattle-Area NHBS Injection Drug Use (NSEP, n = 2,135, 2009–2017) (NHBS, n = 1,709, 2009–2015) | Trends in methamphetamine use and injection equipment sharing in King County among MSM and non-MSM PWID | Percentage of people who inject methamphetamine reporting combined use with opioids increased from 18% in 2009 to 31% in 2017 among MSM and from 10% to 53% among non-MSM. |
| Jones, 2019 (42) | Serial cross-sectional analysis of individuals responding to the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, 2015–2018 | Individuals ≥12 years of age that were interviewed in person about the use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco (n = 171,766) | Prevalence and characteristics of methamphetamine use | Odds of reporting past-year prescription opioid misuse were significantly elevated for adults reporting methamphetamine use (aOR = 2.17, 95% CI: 1.66, 2.84) and past-year heroin use (aOR = 5.10, 95% CI: 3.63, 7.17). |
| Jones, 2020 (47) | Serial cross-sectional analysis of TEDS, 2008–2017 | Individuals ≥12 years of age admitted to substance use treatment centers receiving federal funding (n = 15,747,334) | Trends and characteristics associated with methamphetamine use at treatment admission | Reports of smoking as the route of use of methamphetamine decreased to 58.8% of admissions from 67.3%. Injection was reported in 28.4% of admissions, up from 17.5%. Reports of heroin use increased from 5.3% of admissions to 23.6%, and prescription opioids increased from 3.8% to 8.3%. |
| Jones, 2020 (48) | Serial cross-sectional analysis of TEDS, 2008–2017 | Individuals ≥12 years of age admitted to substance use treatment centers receiving federal funding (n = 3,547,977) | Heroin treatment admissions involving methamphetamine | Percentage of heroin treatment admissions reporting methamphetamine use increased from 2.1% (2008) to 12.4% (2017), with highest prevalence among individuals 12–24 years of age. |
Abbreviations: aOR, adjusted odds ratio; CI: confidence interval; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; MSM, men who have sex with men; NHBS, National HIV Behavioral Surveillance; NSEP, needle and syringe exchange program; PWID, people who inject drugs; TEDS, Treatment Episode Data Set.