New Report Sheds Light on Adult Drug Abuse Patterns

Approximately 10.3 percent of U.S. adults appear to have problems with drug use or abuse during their lives, including 2.6 percent who become drug dependent at some point, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Data was conducted by researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

Over the previous 12 months, 1.4 percent of the participants reported that they had abused drugs and 0.6 percent reported that they were dependent on drugs, while 7.7 percent reported that they developed drug abuse and 2.6 percent drug dependence over their lifetime. Rates of abuse and dependence tended to be higher among men, Native Americans, those age 18 to 44, lower socioeconomic groups, those living in the West and those who were not married. Researchers also found a strong correlation between drug abuse and mental health disorders.

“With few exceptions, 12-month and lifetime drug abuse and dependence were positively and significantly related to alcohol use disorders, nicotine dependence and mood, anxiety and personality disorders,” the authors write. “Associations of drug use disorders with other substance use disorders and anti-social personality disorder were diminished but remained strong when we controlled for psychiatric disorders.” Drug abuse and dependence were also associated with mental, social and emotional disability.

Individuals who abused drugs began at an average age of 19.9, whereas those with drug dependence developed the condition at an average age of 21.7. About 8.1 percent of those who abused drugs and 37.9 percent of those who were dependent received treatment during their lives.

Researchers noted that the fact that drug abuse and dependence seems to start at a young age means that there are “critical windows of opportunity” for prevention efforts.

The full summary can be found at Medical News Today