Determining the Initiation of Opiate Misuse Resulting in Opioid Use Disorder in Pregnant Women

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to explore the “opiate misuse footprint” made by obstetrics and gynecology physicians in prescribing opioid medications for postpartum pain control that led to opioid misuse and opioid use disorder. Data were collected using intake information and anonymous surveys administered to pregnant women at local methadone clinics in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2016–2017. Results from this study revealed that 40% of the 33 participants stated that the first drug they became addicted to was prescription opioids; 71% stated that the first opiate they became addicted to was a prescription pain medication. Prescription opioids were mainly obtained from emergency medicine physicians and friends. Reported use of opioids within the past four months was high, with the most commonly used drugs being methadone (57.6%) and heroin (42.4%). A majority of participants also endorsed a history of sexual and physical abuse, recent incarceration, and mental health disorders. As a large number of pregnant women with opioid use disorder reported their initial drug of misuse as prescription pain medications, it is important to avoid overprescribing opioids in reproductive-age women.

KEYWORDS:

• Initiation
• misuse
• opioid
• pregnant

Acknowledgments

This study was presented as a poster presentation at the 2017 Central Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Annual Meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, in October 2017 and the 2018 Bruce A. Harris Symposium: Progress in Ob/Gyn in Birmingham, Alabama, in February 2018. The authors would like to thank all of the women who participated in this study to help increase the knowledge about opiate misuse and pregnancy.

Additional information

Funding

The authors have no financial disclosures related to this manuscript. The project was done as part of a research elective and was not funded.