TO THE EDITOR:
Han and colleagues' (1) main quantitative finding—that 37.8% of persons in the United States used a prescription opioid in 2015—struck us as high. We are concerned that survey respondents and the investigators conflated “prescription opioids” with “prescription pain relievers” and, potentially, other medications.
The 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) uses the term “pain reliever use or misuse”; has a variable for “any other prescription pain reliever”; and includes a note that, “although the specific pain relievers listed … are classified as opioids, use or misuse of any other pain reliever could include prescription ...
References
- 1.
Han B ,Compton WM ,Blanco C ,Crane E ,Lee J ,Jones CM . Prescription opioid use, misuse, and use disorders in U.S. adults: 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Ann Intern Med. 2017;167:293-301. [PMID:28761945 ]. doi:10.7326/M17-0865 LinkGoogle Scholar - 2. Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Methodological Summary and Definitions. Rockville: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; 2016. Accessed at www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-MethodSummDefsHTML-2015/NSDUH-MethodSummDefsHTML-2015/NSDUH-MethodSummDefs-2015.pdf on 18 October 2017. Google Scholar
- 3. Hughes A, Willliams MR, Lipari RN, Bose J, Copello EAP, Kroutil LA. Prescription drug use and misuse in the United States: results from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. National Survey on Drug Use and Health Data Review. September 2016. Accessed at www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-FFR2-2015/NSDUH-FFR2-2015.htm on 18 October 2017. Google Scholar
Author, Article and Disclosure Information
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois (J.A.L.)
Plateau Pediatrics, Crossville, Tennessee (S.K.B.)
Disclosures: Authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest. Forms can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=L17-0699.
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