Open AccessInitiation of Heroin and Prescription Opioid Pain Relievers by Birth Cohort
Author(s) -
Scott P. Novak,
Ricky N. Bluthenthal,
Lynn Wenger,
Daniel Chu,
Alex H. Kral
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2015.302972
Subject(s) - heroin , medical prescription , medicine , cohort , opioid , population , cohort study , drug , demography , psychiatry , environmental health , pharmacology , receptor , sociology
We examined initiation patterns among different birth cohorts of people who used prescription opioids and heroin because of historical differences in drug use availability. We examined data from a community-based study of persons who inject drugs (n = 483) in California and a general population survey from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (n = 1264) and found that individuals born after 1980 were more likely than were individuals born before 1980 to initiate opioids through nonmedical use of prescription opioids than heroin.