title: Understanding Americans' views on opioid pain reliever abuse.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Opioid pain reliever abuse rates have increased sharply in the United States. This study examines Americans' personal experience with opioid pain reliever use and abuse, and views about the seriousness of the problem, factors causing it, responsibility for addressing it and support for policies to resolve it.
  
  
  METHODS
  Public opinion survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  A nationally representative US adult sample (n = 1111).
  
  
  METHODS
  Experiences with opioid pain relievers and views about the seriousness, causes of and responsibility for addressing the problem, and support for policies to reduce opioid pain reliever abuse.
  
  
  RESULTS
  28.2 per cent of Americans reported using opioid pain relievers in the last 12 months, 69.5% have used them in their life-time and 17.3% reported using these medications when not prescribed to them. Fifty-eight per cent ranked the problem as serious, on a par with other major health concerns. Individual-orientated factors, including a lack of understanding about how easy it is to become addicted (80.0%) and improper storage (65.1%) and disposal (64.1%), ranked highest as causes, and those abusing opioid pain relievers (83.8%) and their physicians (78.0%) were viewed as most responsible for solving the problem. Of the policies recommended to curb the epidemic, 14 of 16 were supported by a majority of Americans.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Americans view the problem of opioid pain reliever abuse as serious, and support nearly all the policies recommended by medical, law enforcement, disease control and public health experts to curb the epidemic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.|Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.|Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Colleen L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Barry
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Alene
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kennedy-Hendricks
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Gollust
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Niederdeppe
authors.affiliation: Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.|Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA.|Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Marcus A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bachhuber
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.|Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.|Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Emma E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: McGinty
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D063487:Prescription Drug Misuse / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid
keywords: Addiction; opioid analgesics; policy; public opinion; substance abuse; surveys