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Non‐medical prescription drug use (NMPDU) and poor quality of life in the Swedish general population
Author(s) -
Abrahamsson Tove,
Berglund Mats,
Håkansson Anders
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the american journal on addictions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.997
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-0391
pISSN - 1055-0496
DOI - 10.1111/ajad.12184
Subject(s) - medical prescription , medicine , logistic regression , quality of life (healthcare) , population , drug , family medicine , environmental health , psychiatry , pharmacology , nursing
Background and Objectives Quality of life has become an increasingly important measurement in the substance use field. The main aim of the present study was to examine the relationships between non‐medical use of prescription analgesics and sedatives and poor quality of life in the general population. Methods Data were drawn from a Swedish national household survey conducted in 2008–2009. A stratified sample of 58,000 individuals aged 15–64 was randomly selected, with a response rate of 38.3% ( n = 22,095). We examined the relationships between non‐medical prescription drug use and quality of life in a logistic regression analysis, controlling for other substance use and sociodemographic variables. Results In the final logistic regression model, both non‐medical use of prescription analgesics and sedatives were independently associated with poor quality of life. Non‐medical use of prescription sedatives was the strongest correlate of poor quality of life among the substance use variables. Discussion and Conclusions The associations between non‐medical prescription drug use and poor quality of life might imply a need to better identify and provide treatment for this group, especially individuals with non‐medical prescription sedative use, which seems to be a particularly strong correlate of poor quality of life. Scientific Significance Using a large, general population sample, the present paper is one of few to examine the relationships between non‐medical prescription drug use and quality of life. (Am J Addict 2015;24:271–277)