Medical and nonmedical use of prescription drugs among secondary school students.
OBJECTIVE
The main objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of medical and nonmedical use of four categories of prescription drugs (opioid, stimulant, sleeping, and sedative/anxiety medication) in a racially diverse sample of secondary public school students in the Detroit metropolitan area. A secondary objective was to examine the association between the use of four categories of prescription medications and illicit drug use and probable drug abuse.


METHODS
In 2005, a Web-based survey was self-administered by 1086 secondary school students in grades seven through 12.


RESULTS
The sample consisted of 54% female, 52% White, 45% African American, and 3% from other racial categories. Forty-eight percent of the sample reported no lifetime use of four categories of prescription drugs (nonusers), 31.5% reported medically prescribed use only (medical users), 17.5% reported both medical and nonmedical use (medical/nonmedical users) and 3.3% reported nonmedical use only (nonmedical users). Multivariate analyses indicated that medical/nonmedical users and nonmedical users were significantly more likely than nonusers to report illicit drug use and probable drug abuse. Medical users generally reported similar or increased odds of illicit drug use and probable drug abuse than non-users.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings provide evidence that nonmedical use of prescription drugs represents a problem behavior among secondary school students.
McCabe
Sean Esteban
SE
Substance Abuse Research Center, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105-2194, USA. plius@umich.edu
Boyd
Carol J
CJ
Young
Amy
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D002491:Central Nervous System Agents; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015995:Prevalence; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D002491:Central Nervous System Agents; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives