Nonmedical Use of Prescription Opioids and Injury Risk Among Youth

ABSTRACT

This study examined relations between prescription opioid abuse and risk of injury among grade 9–10 students in the nationally representative Canadian Health Behavior in School-Aged Children study (weighted N = 9,974). Students were asked about past-year injury, the activity when the injury occurred, and recreational opioid use. Injury among users was twice that of nonusers and was more frequently fighting-related. Prescription opioid misuse was associated with a moderate increase in serious injury risk adjusted for demographics, peer drug use, and other substance use. Explanations may include physiological effects of opioids, multiple risk-taking tendencies, and inadequate parental supervision.

KEYWORDS:

• adolescent
• epidemiology
• injury
• opioids
• prescription drug misuse

Funding

This study was supported by research grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (operating grants: MOP 9762 and PCR 101415). All authors were involved in the conceptualization of this study. Ariel Pulver was supported for this project by the Queen's Graduate Award, Canadian Institutes for Health Research Strategic Training Fellowship Program in Public Health and the Agricultural Rural Ecosystem. The Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey, a World Health Organization European Region collaborative study, was funded in Canada by the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada. International Coordinator of the HBSC is Candice Currie (University of Edinburgh). The principal investigators of the 2009/2010 Canadian HBSC survey were William Pickett and John Freeman, and its national coordinator was Matthew King.