Correlates of extramedical use of OxyContin versus other analgesic opioids among the US general population.

BACKGROUND

There has been substantial public and media attention regarding extramedical use of OxyContin, but few studies focus on the characteristics of extramedical OxyContin users and whether they differ from extramedical other opioid users.

METHODS

We used data from 8218 respondents who were past-year extramedical opioid analgesic users in the 2005 and 2006 National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). We investigated differences in socio-demographic and psychiatric characteristics associated with past-year extramedical OxyContin use (n=1144) versus extramedical other opioid analgesics use (n=7074). Data on opioid sources was compared among past-month users. We also compared extramedical opioid users (n=8218) versus other drug users (n=16,214), and individuals with an analgesic disorder who had past-year extramedical OxyContin use (n=339) versus those with other opioid use (n=820).

RESULTS

Past-year opioid users were more likely than users of other illegal drugs to be more educated and have a past-year major depressive episode. Past-year OxyContin users were more likely than other opioid users to be 18-25 years old (aOR=1.9[1.1,3.2]), and have mental health and deviant behavior problems. Those with past-year analgesic disorder who used OxyContin were more likely to be younger, sell illegal drugs (aOR=2.5[1.5,4.2]), and use illegal drugs than those who used other opioids. Past-month OxyContin users were more likely than past-month other opioid users to buy analgesics from drug dealers/other strangers and obtain opioid analgesics from multiple sources.

CONCLUSION

Our findings point out differences between OxyContin and other opioid users that might help prevention specialists and assist efforts to curb opioid analgesics diversion.