scholarly journals MisuMedPT - Morbi-mortality consequences of misuse of psychoactive prescription drugs in Portugal

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Araújo ◽  
C Bulhosa ◽  
J Goulão ◽  
A P Martins
Keyword(s):  
Prescription Drug ◽  
Prescription Drugs ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Opioid Analgesics ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Poison Control ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Prescription Drug Misuse ◽  
Drug Poisoning

Abstract Background In Portugal, there are no published data on the health-related consequences of prescription drug misuse, which is therefore a public health issue of unknown dimension in our country. Poison control centres and other pharmacoepidemiological sources can be part of a surveillance system for monitoring medicine's use and misuse. Methods Retrospective observational study of intentional exposures to opioid analgesics, antiepileptics, antidepressants, anxiolytics, hypnotics and sedatives reported to the Portuguese Poison Information Centre (CIAV) between 2014 and 2018. Variables studied were demographic characteristics of individuals, geographic distribution of calls, co-exposure to alcohol or illicit drugs, call origin, case evaluation and guidance. Results CIAV received 24624 calls reporting 34203 intentional exposures to any medicine, 31169 (91.1%) of which involving one of the studied psychoactive medicines and 20906 exposures having emergency room advice or effective hospitalisation. The most frequently involved medicines were benzodiazepines (62.0%) - alprazolam (15.4%) and diazepam (12.0%) - with trazodone ranking fifth (6.0%). Combination with non-medicinal products was seen in 2169 calls (9.4%), 2052 (94.6%) of which with alcohol. Conclusions There is female predominance in the poisonings reported involving any of the medicines studied. Benzodiazepines and antidepressants are the top classes reported. The rate of intentional exposures to psychoactive medicines is higher in Coimbra district, whose significant university student population requires further analysis of data. To adjust for the variability in the level of medicines' use in the population, work is undergoing to include rates of intentional poisonings in patients prescribed the studied medicines. To better characterise the potential consequences of misuse of psychoactive prescription drugs in Portugal, additional data on deaths involving these medicines will also be included in the project. Key messages First published Portuguese data on prescription drug poisoning reported to CIAV. First Portuguese project to analyse prescription drug poisoning, forensic and hospitalisation data.

scholarly journals Understanding Nonprescription and Prescription Drug Misuse in Late Adolescence/Young Adulthood

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sasha A. Fleary ◽  
Robert W. Heffer ◽  
E. Lisako J. McKyer
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Prescription Drug ◽  
Prescription Drugs ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Prescription Drug Misuse ◽  
Ease Of Access ◽  
Societal Stigma

This study explored the extent to which nonprescription and prescription drugs misuse among adolescents/young adults are related to their perception that it is safer than illicit drugs, ease of access, and lower societal stigma. Adolescents/young adults (; , ) completed an online survey about their nonprescription and prescription drug misuse, other substance use, and correlates of use. Perceived risk, societal stigma, and access to nonprescription and prescription drugs were predictive of misuse. Results support program planners working towards targeting perceived risk and societal stigma in reducing misuse and the need to restrict and monitor access to nonprescription and prescription drugs for adolescents/young adults.

scholarly journals Prescription Drug Misuse in “Clubbers” and Disco Goers in Ibiza

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimo di Giannantonio ◽  
Attilio Negri ◽  
Stefania Schiavone ◽  
Chiara Vannini ◽  
Mauro Pettorruso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prescription Drug ◽  
Prescription Drugs ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Prescription Drug Misuse ◽  
Exact Test ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Inflammatory Drugs

Background: Prescription drug misuse and its related risks are considered a worldwide public health issue. Current trends show that the extent of such phenomenon may not be limited to subjects with psychiatric disorders, as it also spreads to dance party and nightclub attendees, who often consume prescription drugs in combination with alcohol and psychoactive substances. This study aims to report the sociodemographic data and the psychiatric and clinical features of a sample of clubbers reporting prescription drugs use.Methods: Patients admitted to the psychiatry ward of the Can Misses Hospital in Ibiza were recruited for the study during a span of four consecutive years (2015–2018). The inclusion criteria were age 18–75 years old and the intake of psychoactive substances or more than five alcohol units during the previous 24 h. Substance use habits, psychopathological features, and use of unprescribed pharmaceuticals were investigated. Urine samples were collected and analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.Results: A total of 110 subjects with psychoactive substance intoxication were recruited for the study. Among these, 37 (40%) disclosed the use of prescription drugs without medical supervision. The most common compounds were benzodiazepines (66%), antiepileptic drugs (8%), antidepressants (6%), opioids (6%), antipsychotics (6%), stimulants (6%), and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, 2%). Prescription drug misuse was negatively associated with the use of psychodysleptics (two-tailed Fisher's exact test p = 0.018, ρ = −0.262).Conclusions: The use of prescription drugs is also common among clubbers, usually characterized by low propensity to be prescribed benzodiazepines, antipsychotics, or antidepressants. Prescription drugs may be an alternative to classic and novel psychoactive compounds or may be used to tamper and self-medicate the effects determined by the use of substances. Party goers should be adequately informed about possible risks of co-intake of psychoactive substances and prescription drugs to prevent serious medical and psychiatric consequences.

scholarly journals Misuse of prescription and illicit drugs among high-risk young adults in Los Angeles and New York

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen E. Lankenau ◽  
Sheree M. Schrager ◽  
Karol Silva ◽  
Alex Kecojevic ◽  
Jennifer Jackson Bloom ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Prescription Drug ◽  
Prescription Drugs ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Prescription Drug Misuse ◽  
Local Markets

<em>Background</em>. Prescription drug misuse among young adults is increasingly viewed as a public health concern, yet most research has focused on student populations and excluded high-risk groups. Furthermore, research on populations who report recent prescription drug misuse is limited. This study examined patterns of prescription drug misuse among high-risk young adults in Los Angeles (LA) and New York (NY), which represent different local markets for illicit and prescription drugs. <em>Design and Methods.</em> Between 2009 and 2011, 596 young adults (16 to 25 years old) who had misused prescription drugs within the past 90 days were interviewed in Los Angeles and New York. Sampling was stratified to enroll three groups of high-risk young adults: injection drug users (IDUs); homeless persons; and polydrug users. <em>Results</em>. In both sites, lifetime history of receiving a prescription for an opioid, tranquilizer, or stimulant was high and commonly preceded misuse. Moreover, initiation of opioids occurred before heroin and initiation of prescription stimulants happened prior to illicit stimulants. NY participants more frequently misused oxycodone, heroin, and cocaine, and LA participants more frequently misused codeine, marijuana, and methamphetamine. Combining prescription and illicit drugs during drug using events was commonly reported in both sites. Opioids and tranquilizers were used as substitutes for other drugs, e.g., heroin, when these drugs were not available. <em>Conclusion</em>. Patterns of drug use among high-risk young adults in Los Angeles and New York appear to be linked to differences in local markets in each city for illicit drugs and diverted prescription drugs.

Integrating Theories of Gender and Sexuality With Deviance: The Case of Prescription Drug Misuse during Sex

2021 ◽  
pp. 089124322110098
Author(s):  
Laura C. Frizzell ◽  
Mike Vuolo ◽  
Brian C. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Prescription Drug ◽  
Prescription Drugs ◽  
Minority Stress ◽  
Sexual Minorities ◽  
Deviant Behavior ◽  
Gender And Sexuality ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Identity Conflict ◽  
Prescription Drug Misuse ◽  
Sexual Identities

Social scientists have expended substantial effort to identify group patterns of deviant behavior. Yet beyond the ill-conceived treatment of sexual minorities as inherently deviant, they have rarely considered how gendered sexual identities (GSIs) shape participation in deviance. We argue for the utility of centering theories of gender and sexuality in intersectional deviance research. We demonstrate how this intentional focus on gender and sexuality provides important empirical insights while avoiding past pitfalls of stigmatizing sexual minorities. Drawing on theories of hegemonic masculinity, emphasized femininity, and minority stress together with criminological general strain theory, we demonstrate how societal expectations and constraints generate strains among GSI groups that may lead to distinctly patterned deviance, using the case of prescription drug misuse during sex. We employ thematic analysis of 120 in-depth interviews with people who misuse prescription drugs, stratified by GSI. We identify six themes highlighting distinct pathways from strain to misuse during sex for different GSI groups: intimacy management, achieving sexual freedom, regulating sexual mood, performance confidence, increased sense of control, and managing sexual identity conflict. In this article, we demonstrate the empirical and theoretical importance of centering gender and sexuality in deviance research and provide a roadmap for theoretical integration.

scholarly journals Combinations of prescription drug misuse and illicit drugs among young adults

2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 941-944 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian C. Kelly ◽  
Brooke E. Wells ◽  
Mark Pawson ◽  
Amy LeClair ◽  
Jeffrey T. Parsons
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Prescription Drug ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Prescription Drug Misuse

scholarly journals Early Detection of Prescription Drug Abuse Using Doctor Shopping Monitoring From Claims Databases: Illustration From the Experience of the French Addictovigilance Network

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Soeiro ◽  
Clémence Lacroix ◽  
Vincent Pradel ◽  
Maryse Lapeyre-Mestre ◽  
Joëlle Micallef
Keyword(s):  
Drug Abuse ◽  
Early Detection ◽  
Prescription Drug ◽  
Prescription Drugs ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Opioid Analgesics ◽  
Outcome Data ◽  
Prescription Drug Abuse ◽  
Doctor Shopping

Opioid analgesics and maintenance treatments, benzodiazepines and z-drugs, and other sedatives and stimulants are increasingly being abused to induce psychoactive effects or alter the effects of other drugs, eventually leading to dependence. Awareness of prescription drug abuse has been increasing in the last two decades, and organizations such as the International Narcotics Control Board has predicted that, worldwide, prescription drug abuse may exceed the use of illicit drugs. Assessment of prescription drug abuse tackles an issue that is hidden by nature, which therefore requires a specific monitoring. The current best practice is to use multiple detection systems to assess prescription drug abuse by various populations in a timely, sensitive, and specific manner. In the early 2000's, we designed a method to detect and quantify doctor shopping for prescription drugs from the French National Health Data System, which is one of the world's largest claims database, and a first-class data source for pharmacoepidemiological studies. Doctor shopping is a well-known behavior that involves overlapping prescriptions from multiple prescribers for the same drug, to obtain higher doses than those prescribed by each prescriber on an individual basis. In addition, doctor shopping may play an important role in supplying the black market. The paper aims to review how doctor shopping monitoring can improve the early detection of prescription drug abuse within a multidimensional monitoring. The paper provides an in-depth overview of two decades of development and validation of the method as a complementary component of the multidimensional monitoring conducted by the French Addictovigilance Network. The process accounted for the relevant determinants of prescription drug abuse, such as pharmacological data (e.g., formulations and doses), chronological and geographical data (e.g., impact of measures and comparison between regions), and epidemiological and outcome data (e.g., profiles of patients and trajectories of care) for several pharmacological classes (e.g., opioids, benzodiazepines, antidepressants, and methylphenidate).

An Overview of Prescription Drug Misuse and Abuse: Defining the Problem and Seeking Solutions

1994 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonnie B. Wilford ◽  
James Finch ◽  
Dorynne J. Czechowicz ◽  
David Warren
Keyword(s):  
Prescription Drugs ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
The United States ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Prescription Drug Misuse ◽  
Therapeutic Benefits ◽  
Psychoactive Effects ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Access To Medical Care

Each year, millions of individuals in the United States are treated for a variety of serious medical conditions with prescription drugs whose therapeutic benefits are well known. The vast majority of these medications are used to treat medical and psychiatric illnesses. Generally, they are used as prescribed, and contribute to a better quality of life for persons suffering from debilitating or life-threatening disorders.The fact that a small portion of these medications is diverted by those who seek their psychoactive effects raises the important policy issue: how to make drugs easily available for medical use while limiting access for purposes of abuse.Such a responsibility poses challenges very different from those of the so-called “war” on illicit drugs, because this control must be achieved without impeding patients’ access to medical care. A rational public policy would attempt to achieve a balance between the need to minimize abuse and the need to provide relief.

scholarly journals Prescription drug misuse: quantifying the experiences of New Zealand GPs

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janie Sheridan ◽  
Sophie Jones ◽  
Trudi Aspden
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Prescription Drug ◽  
General Practitioners ◽  
Prescription Drugs ◽  
Postal Survey ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Prescription Drug Misuse ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Psychoactive Effects ◽  
Alternative Drug

INTRODUCTION: The misuse of prescription drugs for their psychoactive effects is an international problem. To date, there is a paucity of quantitative data on prescription drug misuse (PDM) in New Zealand, especially data investigating the experiences of general practitioners (GPs). AIM: To quantify GPs’ experiences regarding PDM in New Zealand in terms of the extent of the problem, challenges faced, problem drugs, and actions taken by GPs once PDM is suspected. METHOD: A cross-sectional postal survey of a random sample of 300 GPs in New Zealand was undertaken. RESULTS: A 45.7% response rate was achieved. Approximately two-thirds of GPs (65.9%) had diagnosed at least one patient with a PDM problem in the last 12 months. Thirty percent of respondents indicated that they had been faced with at least one challenge in the past 12 months, with ‘verbal threats’ being the most common of these (16.3%). Benzodiazepines and opioids were identified as the most problematic drug classes. The action usually taken by the greatest number of GPs once they suspected PDM was to ‘document it’ (97.9%) followed closely by ‘suggest an alternative drug’ (96.7%) and ‘refrain from prescribing the drug’ (91.9%). DISCUSSION: PDM is an issue for GPs. The findings from this study have highlighted the need for further research into this concerning issue, specifically further quantification of the size of the problem in the New Zealand general population. There is also a need for the development and implementation of interventions to help minimise and better manage PDM in New Zealand. KEYWORDS: Prescription drugs; pharmaceutical; drug abuse; drug misuse; general practitioners; New Zealand; questionnaires; quantitative

scholarly journals Prevalence and Patterns of Prescription Drug Misuse among Young Ketamine Injectors

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 717-735 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen E. Lankenau ◽  
Bill Sanders ◽  
Jennifer Jackson Bloom ◽  
Dodi S. Hathazi ◽  
Erica Alarcon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prescription Drug ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Prescription Drugs ◽  
Injection Drug Users ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Injection Drug ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Prescription Drug Misuse ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Epidemiological Monitoring

In recent years, epidemiological monitoring data has indicated sharp increases in prescription drug misuse. Despite these increases, little is known about the context or patterns associated with prescription drug misuse, particularly among youth or young injection drug users (IDUs). A three-city study of 213 young IDUs found prescription drug misuse to be pervasive, specifically the use of opioids and benzodiazepines. Particular practices not commonly associated with prescription drugs were reported, such as sniffing, smoking, and injection. Associated health risks included initiation into injection drug use, polydrug use, drug overdose, and drug dependency. A greater awareness of the potential health risks associated with prescription drug misuse should be incorporated into services that target IDUs, including street outreach, syringe exchanges, and drug treatment.

scholarly journals Prescription drug misuse during pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 170-174
Author(s):  
Anand Shankar ◽  
Anupama J Anand
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Prescription Drug ◽  
Prescription Drugs ◽  
World Health ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Prescription Drug Misuse ◽  
Prescription Drug Use

Prescription drug misuse is when someone takes a medication inappropriately. The prescription drug misuse is not an uncommon issue but the use of prescription drugs has significantly increased during the covid 19 pandemic. The major factors that has contributed to the increased dependence to prescription drug use during the pandemic is the increased paranoia about the virus and the drug dependency of the substance abusers. The context of the study is the increased use of prescription drugs among young adults and case reports of violence attributed by drug use. The main aim of the study is to identify the trend of prescription drug use among young adults and the factors that contribute to the misuse. The study primarily focused on young adults and recorded the responses using the questionnaire. The methodology for the proposed study was through online interaction with the participants in the form of survey through google forms. The data collection method included literature review of published articles pertaining to the topic, newspaper articles and websites. The data collection was primarily through google forms and participants response are analyzed for arriving into conclusion. Further-more data from published article, journals, data published in websites like the National Health Portal, National Institute of Health (NIH)- National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), World Health Organization (WHO). Both primary and secondary data is used for data collection. An age group between 20-30 was collected. This age group was selected due to the possibility that most utilization of prescription drugs would be contributed by these groups. Mostly randomized sampling was carried out due to the limitation of collecting data one to one considering the pandemic situations. After analyzing the results, it is inferred that there is a significant increase in use of prescription drugs during the pandemic time and the study also found a trend of alarming concern of buying prescription drug without it being prescribed by the medical practitioner which hence is a serious case of social concern.

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