Nonmedical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD) among college students has become an important public health concern. One important factor is whether or not medical use of prescription drugs leads to NMUPD. The current study looks at associations between past and current medical use of prescription drugs to current nonmedical use of these drugs.
The final study included 1686 undergraduate students from two universities in New York State. Participants had an average age of 20.2, were 53% female, and were racially diverse. Information about students’ histories of medical and nonmedical use of three drug classes were obtained. The classes included stimulants, sedative/anxiolytics, and opioid analgesics. Participants were asked if the drug had ever been prescribed by a medical provider and also if they had used it without a prescription. Other measures included demographics, psychological symptoms, risky alcohol use, and illicit drug use.
26% of students reported a past medical prescription with majority being opioids. 8.4% reported having a current medical prescription which was primarily stimulants and sedatives/anxiolytics. 20% of participants reported current NMUPD with stimulants being primary. Medical use of each drug class was found to be significantly and positively correlated to nonmedical sue of the same drug class. Research also showed current medical use of stimulants was associated with current nonmedical use of sedatives/anxiolytics and past medical use of sedatives/anxiolytics was associated with current nonmedical use of opioids. These findings show interventions may benefit from targeting not only those misusing drugs from the same class, but those who may be medically prescribed a drug from one class and misusing a prescription drug from another class.
Take Away: The current study looks at the association between past and current medical use of prescription drugs to current nonmedical use of these drugs. The final study included 1686 undergraduate students and information about students’ histories of medical and nonmedical use of three drug classes were obtained including stimulants, sedative/anxiolytics, and opioid analgesics. Medical use of each drug class was found to be significantly and positively correlated to nonmedical sue of the same drug class. Current medical use of stimulants was associated with current nonmedical use of sedatives/ anxiolytics and past medical use of sedatives/anxiolytics was associated with current nonmedical use of opioids. These findings show interventions may benefit from targeting those misusing prescription drugs from different classes than their medical prescriptions.