title: Prescription Opioid Use Among Seriously Mentally Ill Veterans Nationally in the Veterans Health Administration.
abstract: Frequent prescription opioid use has been recognized as a growing problem but there have been no studies specifically among veterans with serious mental illness (SMI). National data from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) during Fiscal Year 2012 show that VHA patients with SMI receive more opioid prescriptions than other veterans. Additionally, high numbers of opioid prescriptions is associated with greater use of anxiolytics/sedative-hypnotics, drug dependence and COPD-all of which pose an increased risk of respiratory depression and falls and warrant substantial caution and improved coordination between mental health and non-mental health prescribers to evaluate risk-benefit tradeoffs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. nick_mathew1@hotmail.com.|VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA. nick_mathew1@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Nickie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mathew
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Rosenheck
mesh_terms: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D004363:Drug Utilization; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010045:Outpatients; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000139:chemically induced; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D058014:Veterans Health
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents
keywords: Anxiolytics; Prescription opioids; Serious mental illness; Veterans