Prevalence and correlates of DSM-5 opioid withdrawal syndrome in U.S. adults with non-medical use of prescription opioids: results from a national sample

ABSTRACT

Background: In the U.S. non-medical use of prescription opioids (NMOU) is prevalent and often accompanied by opioid withdrawal syndrome (OWS). OWS has not been studied using nationally representative data.

Objectives: We examined the prevalence and clinical correlates of OWS among U.S. adults with NMOU.

Methods: We used data from 36,309 U.S. adult participants in the 2012–2013 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III, 1,527 of whom reported past 12-month NMOU. Adjusted linear and logistic regression models examined associations between OWS and its clinical correlates, including psychiatric disorders, opioid use disorder (OUD; excluding the withdrawal criterion), medical conditions, and healthcare utilization among people with regular (i.e. ≥3 days/week) NMOU (n = 534).

Results: Over half (50.4%) of the sample was male. Approximately 9% of people with NMOU met criteria for DSM-5 OWS, with greater prevalence of OWS (∼20%) among people with regular NMOU. Individuals with bipolar disorder, dysthymia, panic disorder, and borderline personality disorder had greater odds of OWS (aOR range = 2.71–4.63). People with OWS had lower mental health-related quality of life (β=-8.32, p < .001). Individuals with OUD also had greater odds of OWS (aOR range = 26.02–27.77), an association that increased with more severe OUD. People using substance use-related healthcare services also had greater odds of OWS (aOR range = 6.93–7.69).

Conclusion: OWS was prevalent among people with OUD and some psychiatric disorders. These findings support screening for OWS in people with NMOU and suggest that providing medication- assisted treatments and behavioral interventions could help to reduce the burden of withdrawal in this patient population.

KEYWORDS:

• Opioid withdrawal
• opioid withdrawal syndrome
• non-medical prescription opioids
• opioids

Disclosure statement

Dr. Hasin receives support from Syneos Health for an unrelated project on diagnosing opioid addiction in pain patients. Dr. Kranzler is a member of advisory boards for Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Sophrosyne Pharmaceuticals, Clearmind Medicine, and Enthion Pharmaceuticals; a consultant to Sobrera Pharmaceuticals; the recipient of research funding and medication supplies for an investigator-initiated study from Alkermes; a member of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology’s Alcohol Clinical Trials Initiative, which was supported in the last three years by Alkermes, Dicerna, Ethypharm, Lundbeck, Mitsubishi, Otsuka, and Pear Therapeutics; and a holder of U.S. patent 10,900,082 titled: “Genotype-guided dosing of opioid agonists,” issued 26 January 2021.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00952990.2023.2248646

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse [grant numbers T32DA031099, R01DA048860, R21DA053156, R01DA054553, R01DA057351, K23DA057417], the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [grant number K01AA028199] and support from the New York State Psychiatric Institute. The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study, management, analysis and interpretation of the data, preparation, review or approval of the manuscript, or decision to submit the manuscript for publication.