Trends and Associates of Non-Medical Prescription Opioid Use in Australia

Introduction

Illicit opioid use contributes more to the global burden of disease than any other illicit drug use. Global estimates of prescription opioid use doubled from 2001 to 2013, accompanied by a rise in non-medical use and related harms (opioid poisoning, addiction, dependence, and related injuries and deaths). COVID-19 has seen increases in risk factors for illicit drug use including social isolation and unemployment. It is important that post-COVID-19 prevalence rates are considered in the context of recent prevalence information and trends, which this study aims to provide.

Methods

This study included 72,586 individuals aged 14 and above who participated in the National Drug Strategy Household Surveys in 2010, 2013, and 2016. We estimated population prevalence of non-medical prescription opioid use across the years. Binary logistic regression was used to assess participants’ characteristics and their association with the probability of non-medical prescription opioid use over time.

Results

The national weighted prevalence were 3.22% in 2010, 3.45% in 2013, and 3.56% in 2016, but the changes were statistically non-significant. Individuals with high levels of psychological distress, socioeconomically disadvantaged and residing in the non-metropolitan area were more likely to have used non-medical prescription opioid in the past year. The prevalence of uses among individuals in the 40-49 age group increased significantly between 2010 and 2016.

Conclusions

The finding supports a position that Australia is not on a trajectory towards an opioid crisis, as seen in the USA. However, limitations in 2016 data collection methods could have concealed an increase in non-medical prescription opioid use. Impending 2019 data will be important to include as a pre-COVID-19 baseline for future studies. Implications and future research directions are discussed.