Prevalence and Correlates of Prescription Drug Misuse Among Socially Active Young Adults

Background: Prescription drug misuse represents an emerging global drug trend. Data indicate that young adults are misusing prescription drugs at high rates. As such, continued surveillance of the patterns of prescription drug misuse among young adults is critical, particularly for those engaged in social scenes known to accommodate drug use.

Methods: Prevalence and correlates of lifetime and recent prescription drug misuse among urban young adults recruited at nightlife venues using time-space sampling are assessed via prevalence estimates and logistic regression analyses.

Results: In a diverse sample of 1207 young adults, 44.1% reported lifetime prescription drug misuse, and 20.3% reported misuse during the past three months. Stimulants were the most common class of drug respondents misused within the past six months (16.7%), followed by pain killers (16.5%) and sedatives (14.5%). While no gender or sexual orientation differences in misuse prevalence existed, Black youth reported the lowest prevalence of misuse. In multivariate analyses, increased age was associated with lower odds of recent misuse, females report lower odds of recent use, and Black, Asian, and Latino individuals had lower odds of recent misuse than Whites. These odds varied by prescription drug type. Negative binomial regression analyses indicate that, among prescription drug misusers, women misuse prescription drugs less frequently. Younger individuals more frequently misuse stimulants and older individuals more frequently misuse sedatives. Racial variation existed with frequency of use across classes.

Conclusions: This study illustrates the need for health promotion efforts targeting prescription drug misuse among young adults who are highly socially active. Future research should focus on motivations for and factors associated with prescription drug misuse within youth cultures. Further research may provide a fuller sense of how to reduce the impact of prescription drug misuse for nations whose prescription drug problem lags behind that of the U.S.