title: Safe Storage of Opioid Pain Relievers Among Adults Living in Households With Children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe safe storage practices and beliefs among adults who have used a prescription opioid pain reliever (OPR) in the past year; to compare practices and beliefs among those living with younger (<7 years) versus older children (7-17 years).
  
  
  METHODS
  A survey was administered to a nationally representative sample of adults reporting OPR use in the previous 12 months and who had children <18 years old living with them. We used Health Belief Model-derived items to measure beliefs. Safe storage was defined as locked or latched for younger children and as locked for older children. Regression models examined the association between beliefs and safe storage practices.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 681 adults who completed our survey and reported having children in their home, safe storage was reported by 32.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 21.4-43.8) of those with only young children, 11.7% (95% CI, 7.2-16.2) among those with only older children, and 29.0% (95% CI, 18.3-39.8) among those with children in both age groups. Among those asked to answer survey questions thinking about only their oldest child, the odds of reporting safe storage decreased by half as perceived barriers increased (0.505; 95% CI, 0.369-0.692), increased twofold as efficacy increased (2.112; 95% CI, 1.390-3.210), and increased (1.728; 95% CI, 1.374-2.174) as worry increased.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  OPRs are stored unsafely in many households with children. Educational messages should address perceived barriers related to safe storage while emphasizing how it may reduce OPR access among children.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, emcdona1@jhu.edu.|Department of Health, Behavior and Society.
authors.forename: Eileen M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: McDonald
authors.affiliation: Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy Research.|Department of Health Policy and Management, and.
authors.forename: Alene
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kennedy-Hendricks
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy.|Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy Research.|Department of Health Policy and Management, and.|Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Emma E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: McGinty
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy.|Department of Health Policy and Management, and.
authors.forename: Wendy C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Shields
authors.affiliation: Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy Research.|Department of Health Policy and Management, and.|Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Colleen L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Barry
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy.|Department of Health, Behavior and Society.
authors.forename: Andrea C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Gielen
mesh_terms: D000061:Accidents, Home / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002648:Child; D004356:Drug Storage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011041:Poisoning / Q000517:prevention & control; D063487:Prescription Drug Misuse / Q000517:prevention & control; D012449:Safety; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid