Long-Term Trends in Pediatric Opioid Use and Misuse in the U.S.

Two new studies provide long-term U.S. data trends on prescription opioid use and misuse among U.S. children and teenagers.

In an annual cross-sectional survey administered to U.S. high school seniors between 1976 and 2015, students were asked whether they had ever taken prescription opioids because a doctor told them to do so (medical use) or without a doctor's advice (nonmedical). Rates ranged from a low of 13% in 1997 to a high of 20% in 1989 and 2002 for medical use and were lower for nonmedical use (approximate range, 6%–13%); the two were consistently and strongly correlated over time (especially among male adolescents). Both uses declined between 2013 and 2015. Among respondents who reported both uses, medical use followed by nonmedic…