CORONADO, CALIF. – About one-third of inpatients on a detoxification unit were currently taking prescription opioid medication, most commonly Lortab and hydrocodone, results from a small pilot study showed.
In an investigation of prescription opioid use and misuse among inpatients on a detoxification unit, Dr. Rebecca A. Payne and her associates in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, asked 34 men and 48 women who presented for treatment to complete an anonymous battery of self-assessments. Study participants were asked about their pain history and prescription opiate use, and they completed the Pain Medication Questionnaire, the West Haven-Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory Part I, the Substance Misuse Questionnaire, and the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire.
The average age of the 82 patients was 42 years, and most were white (85%) and unemployed (70%), the researchers reported during a poster session at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry. Nearly one-third (31%) were married, 28% were single, and 26% were divorced or separated.
About one-third of patients (34%) reported that they were currently taking a prescription opioid medication, most commonly Lortab (29%), hydrocodone (23%), or oxycodone (22%). Men were significantly more likely than women to be taking hydrocodone (18% vs. 4%, respectively) and fentanyl (9% vs. 0%, respectively).
Aberrant behaviors associated with prescription drug use included saving unused medication for later use (74%), taking more medication than prescribed (61%), running out of medication early and needing refills (51%), and borrowing pain medications from friends or family (48%).
A minority of study participants reported forging a prescription (10%), selling their prescription (14%), or using an alternative route of administration such as crushing the medication and snorting it (24%).
The researchers cautioned that the small sample size is a limitation of the study and that the results are preliminary. The study is supported by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.