Prescription Painkillers a Common Gateway to Opioid Addiction in Women

More than half of women addicted to opioids started with prescription painkillers, according to a new study.

With the number of opioid prescriptions more than doubling over the last 20 years, sex-specific issues in treatment needed to be re-examined, the researchers said. Their study evaluated gender differences in substance use, health, and social functioning in people receiving methadone treatment for opioid use disorder.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RELATED CONTENT
Study: Opioid Use High In Adults with COPD
Common Hypertension Drug Could Help Prevent Opioid Relapse
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In the sample, comprised of 54% (n=266) men and 46% women (n=226), only about one-third had jobs (35.6%) and just roughly one-quarter (27.9%) completed high school. Mean age of initial opioid use was nearly identical between the sexes (24.9 years for men vs. 25.1 years for woman).

“There is no more a gap between men and women in drug use behavior,” said study coauthor Zainab Samaan, MBChB, DMMD, MSc, PhD, MRCPsych, assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at McMaster University.

According to the study, 51.6% of women received their first opioid as the result of a physician prescription. That number dropped to 37.7% in men.

“Be careful when prescribing opioids,” Samaan said. “If you have to start opioids for a patient, keep to a very short course.”

The study also found compared to men, women in the study had more frequent physical and psychological health problems, family history of psychiatric illness, and childcare responsibilities. The men had higher rates of employment, cigarette smoking, and cannabis use.

“Opioid use has been too liberal,” Samaan concluded. “Treatment plans have not been revised in decades. Sex-specific management plans are needed. And we need more research to uncover the biological and social determinants of opioid addiction and provide better treatment for current patients and prevent a new wave of people from becoming addicted to opioids.”

-Mike Bederka

Reference:

Bawor M, Dennis BB, Varenbut M, et al. Sex differences in substance use, health, and social functioning among opioid users receiving methadone treatment: a multicenter cohort study. Biology of Sex Differences. November 2015 [epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1186/s13293-015-0038-6.