Department of Internal Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
J Urban Health. 2011 Dec;88(6):997-1014. doi: 10.1007/s11524-011-9589-y.
Prescription medication borrowing can result in adverse health outcomes. We aimed to study the patterns of borrowing prescription medications in an adult urban population seeking healthcare in the outpatient, emergency, and inpatient units of an urban medical center. Participants indicated whether they (1) had a primary care doctor, medical insurance, a prior history of substance abuse, psychiatric disorders, or chronic pain; and (2) had borrowed a prescription medication. If so, they noted the medication obtained, source, frequency of use, and reasons why they had not obtained a prescription from a licensed medical provider. Of the 641 participants, most were African American (75%), urban residents (75%), high school educated or less (71%), and lacked full-time employment (68%). Many had health insurance (90%) and had recently seen their primary medical provider (75%). Eighteen percent reported ever borrowing a prescription medication. On multivariate analysis, history of chronic pain was marginally associated with increased medication borrowing (odds ratio [OR] = 1.58) while having Medicare insurance (OR = 0.436) or a primary care medical provider routinely ask about medication usage (OR = 0.589) were significantly associated with decreased medication borrowing. The most commonly obtained medications were for pain (74%), usually in the form of opioids, and were obtained from a family member (49%) or friend (38%). Thirty-five percent of those who borrowed medications did so more than once a year, with lack of convenient access to medical care the most frequently cited reason for use (67%). Only a third of those who borrowed medications had informed their primary medical providers of the behavior. In conclusion, borrowing prescription medications is a common behavior in the population studied. Further research is warranted into interventions to reduce such use, especially the impact of methods to improve the convenience of contacting licensed medical providers.
处方药物的转借可能导致不良的健康后果。我们旨在研究城市医疗中心的门诊、急诊和住院部寻求医疗服务的成年人群体中，处方药物转借的模式。参与者需表明他们是否（1）有初级保健医生、医疗保险、滥用药物史、精神疾病或慢性疼痛史；以及（2）有转借过处方药物。如果有，他们需记录所获得的药物、来源、使用频率以及未从合法医疗提供者处获得处方的原因。在 641 名参与者中，大多数是非洲裔美国人（75%）、城市居民（75%）、高中及以下学历（71%）、没有全职工作（68%）。许多人有医疗保险（90%），且最近看过他们的初级保健医生（75%）。18%的人报告曾转借过处方药物。在多变量分析中，慢性疼痛史与增加药物转借的可能性呈边际相关（比值比 [OR] = 1.58），而拥有医疗保险（OR = 0.436）或初级保健医生经常询问药物使用情况（OR = 0.589）与减少药物转借显著相关。最常获得的药物是用于治疗疼痛（74%），通常是阿片类药物，并且是从家庭成员（49%）或朋友（38%）处获得。35%的药物转借者每年转借药物超过一次，最常引用的使用原因是缺乏方便获得医疗护理（67%）。只有三分之一的药物转借者将该行为告知了他们的初级保健医生。总之，在研究人群中，转借处方药物是一种常见行为。需要进一步研究干预措施以减少这种行为，特别是改善与合法医疗提供者联系的便利性的方法的影响。
