Polypharmacy Among Prescription Drug Users
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August 2017 IMPROVING COMMUNITY HEALTH THROUGH POLICY RESEARCH 17-H08 Polypharmacy Among Prescription Drug Users SUMMARY • Polypharmacy – the use of multiple medications within a given period – is common in the United States. • Although polypharmacy as a result of legitimate management of a medical condition is an important topic, the focus of this issue brief is on polypharmacy as an aspect of prescription drug misuse. • Misuse of prescription opioids has been associated with use of illicit drugs, especially heroin. Results from recent studies showed that almost one-half of heroin-injecting individuals abused prescription opioids before switching to heroin. • Misuse of multiple drugs can lead to adverse effects including addiction; drug-drug interactions; and overdose, potentially resulting in death. • Fatal overdose is the most severe consequence of multiple-drug use. A large share of drug-related deaths is attributable to opioids (both prescription and illegal) and also involve multiple substances, primarily opioids and benzodiazepines. • Polypharmacy is also not uncommon in Indiana; almost 84% of prescription drug misusers receiving substance abuse treatment reported using at least one additional substance, most commonly alcohol or marijuana. What is Polypharmacy? were being treated for a minimum of two chron- Polypharmacy – the use of multiple medications ic diseases [4]. Every year about one-third of all within a given period - is common in the United the prescribed medications in the United States States [1]. While there is no universal definition, are consumed by the elderly [5]. Also, a study of polypharmacy is generally determined based on Medicaid-dependent youths indicated that up to either the number of medications involved or 50% of children in outpatient settings and 85% in whether the usage of the medications is deemed inpatient and residential settings were prescribed unnecessary [2, 3]. Polypharmacy is frequently two or more medications [6, 7]. Polypharmacy, an indicator or consequence of prescription drug regardless of whether it is the result of legitimate abuse; however, it can also simply refer to indi- treatment or prescription drug abuse, can have viduals dealing with multiple health conditions significant negative consequences, such as ad- who require a variety of medications. verse drug reactions, drug-drug interactions, and An analysis of a nationally representa- other complications [3]. Although polypharmacy tive multi-year survey showed that over half of as a result of legitimate management of a medical all U.S. adults (about 117 million individuals) condition is an important topic, the focus of this CENTER FOR HEALTH POLICY RICHARD M. FAIRBANKS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis issue brief is on polypharmacy as an aspect of these medications. From 1991 to 2010, the num- prescription drug abuse. ber of prescriptions for pain-related treatment jumped from 30 million to 180 million – a six-fold Prescription Drug Misuse increase [11]. Many individuals who abuse pre- Prescription drug misuse has several definitions, scription drugs report obtaining them from fam- but all of them describe it as the deliberate use of ily members or friends for whom the drugs were prescribed medications possessing intoxicating or prescribed [13, 14]. Furthermore, the prescription mood-altering effects, in manners or for purposes drug abuse epidemic is linked to a lack of consum- different from those intended by the prescription er knowledge about the addictive effects of these providers [8, 9]. Prescription drugs are misused medications. Once they are prescribed by physi- for various reasons, including to induce euphoria, cians, many patients readily classify them differ- alter mental states, or increase physical perfor- ently from illegal drugs, and assume that little or mance. Though prescription drugs are frequently no risk is involved in taking them [10]. viewed as “safe,” abuse of these pharmaceuticals More than 52 million Americans reported can result in dependence and addiction [10-12]. having abused prescription drugs at some point in One of the reasons for the rise in prescrip- their lifetime [9, 15]. According to findings from tion drug abuse, particularly prescription pain re- the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NS- lievers (opioid analgesics), is the accessibility of DUH), pain relievers were the most commonly Figure 1: Past-month misuse of prescription pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives among the U.S. population ages 12 or older, by age group (National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2015) Source: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2016 2 CENTER FOR HEALTH POLICY RICHARD M. FAIRBANKS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis abused prescription drug category. Young adults addiction [25]. ages 18 to 25 years had the highest prevalence Abuse of prescription opioids has been as- rates of prescription drug abuse across all catego- sociated with use of illicit drugs, especially heroin. ries (Figure 1) [15]. Results from recent studies showed that almost Pain reliever abuse has been identified one-half of heroin-injecting individuals abused as the second most common type of drug use in prescription opioids before switching to heroin. the United States, behind marijuana use [16], One of the reasons mentioned for switching was frequently leading to visits to emergency depart- that heroin was cheaper and easier to obtain than ments, substance abuse treatment admissions, prescription medications [26]. and fatal overdoses [17, 18]. The progression from prescription drug use Polypharmacy in Indiana’s Substance to abuse and addiction is based on different factors Abuse Treatment Population such as individual vulnerability (e.g., genetics, cer- The following analyses are based on informa- tain medical disorders), age, gender, and ease of tion from Indiana’s Treatment Episode Data Set access [12, 19, 20]. Studies have found that med- (TEDS). State law requires publicly funded drug ical use of prescription drugs, especially pain re- treatment programs to routinely collect informa- lievers, is associated with an increased risk of sub- tion on the number and characteristics of persons sequent illicit use of the drug [21]. Safe initial use admitted to their programs and report these data of these pharmaceuticals tends to lower the user’s to the Indiana Family and Social Services Admin- perceived risk, and therefore, encourages subse- istration’s Division of Mental Health and Addic- quent usage [22]. Furthermore, opioid analgesics tion. TEDS records represent admissions rather affect the brain by not only producing both pain than individuals; individuals may be admitted to relief and euphoria, but also concurrently forming treatment more than once in a given year. Several a link between the brain’s receipt of the drugs and limitations of the data have been identified. Only their perceived effects [23]. This conditioning can publicly funded substance abuse treatment pro- lead to uncontrollable cravings for the drugs’ ef- viders are required to collect and submit client in- fects, whether for pain relief or euphoria. Medical formation. Additionally, Indiana only collects data users of prescription opioids for pain management on clients that are at or below the 200% federal are vulnerable to this; the use of prescription opi- poverty level. Hence, findings presented in this re- oids often leads to unintended consequences, in- port may not be representative of the state’s entire cluding physical dependence and addiction [24]. treatment population. Physical dependence is a physiological response to The nonmedical use of prescription drugs regular use of a psychoactive substance, in which increased in Indiana’s treatment population from the body requires more and more of the drug to 19.4% in 2010 to 28.5% in 2016. This increase was achieve the same effect (tolerance) and abrupt ces- primarily driven by the rise in the misuse of opi- sation of use leads to drug-specific physical and oid medications (Figure 2). The problematic use mental withdrawal symptoms. Addiction is the of multiple drugs was particularly evident in this compulsive and continued use of a drug despite population group. Use of two or more substances harmful consequences. Though dependence is not was reported in 83.6% of prescription drug misus- the same as addiction, it generally is a feature of 3 CENTER FOR HEALTH POLICY RICHARD M. FAIRBANKS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis ers, compared to 54.0% of the rest of the substance substances among prescription drug misusers (see abuse treatment population. Overall, marijuana Table 1 for a detailed list of the most frequently and alcohol were the most commonly co-used co-used drugs). Figure 2: Percentage of Indiana treatment admissions reporting nonmedical use of prescription drugs, by drug category (TEDS, 2010-2016) Source: Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction, 2017 Consequences of Polypharmacy rates have increased significantly from 12.3 per Prescription drugs that are used illicitly, especially 100,000 population in 2010 to 16.3 in 2015 [35]. when combined with other drugs, pose significant The top 10 drugs involved in overdose deaths in- health risks, potentially leading to harmful or even clude opioids (fentanyl, heroin, hydrocodone, lethal outcomes [8, 27]. Polypharmacy has been methadone, morphine, and oxycodone), benzodi- linked to greater