In a national survey of high school students, prescription opioid misuse was associated with engaging in risky behaviors, including unsafe driving and carrying a gun.
Misuse of prescription pain medications is on the rise, especially among adolescents. Understanding risky behaviors that are associated with misuse could inform screening for such behaviors in pediatric practice. To assess these associations, researchers analyzed data from nearly 15,000 adolescents who participated in the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (nationally representative sample of students in grades 9–12).
Fourteen percent of students reported ever misusing opioids. Opioid misusers were significantly more likely than nonusers to have engaged in all of the 22 risky behaviors examined, including driving under the influence (adjusted odds ratio, 5.8), early sexual initiation (aOR, 3.9), and carrying a gun during the past m…
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresConsultant/Advisory BoardEli Lilly and Company; Advisory Council, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Subboard for Adolescent Medicine, American Board of Pediatrics
Grant/Research SupportPatty Brisben Foundation
Editorial BoardsOsteoporosis International; Bone; Journal of Adolescent Health
DisclosuresConsultant/Advisory BoardEli Lilly and Company; Advisory Council, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Subboard for Adolescent Medicine, American Board of Pediatrics
Grant/Research SupportPatty Brisben Foundation
Editorial BoardsOsteoporosis International; Bone; Journal of Adolescent Health