Almost 20 years into the opioid epidemic, there finally is evidence of significant and continual decreases in the abuse of these risky pain medications, according to an analysis of national data being presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2020 annual meeting.

The rate of prescription opioids fell 26% between 2007 and 2018, according to the researchers’ analysis of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an annual survey of about 70,000 Americans age 12 and older asking about their use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs.

For the analysis, prescription opioid abuse was defined as use without the consent of a physician. While opioids can be beneficial for short-term relief, in most cases they should not be used long-term because of their significant side effects and risk for addiction.

“Prior research has shown slight reductions in abuse rates, but our analysis shows we’re tracking statistically significant year-to-year declines in abuse, indicating that the decrease is not an anomaly and truly represents a trend in falling prescription drug abuse levels,” said Mario Moric, M.S., lead author of the study and a biostatistician at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago. “We believe the message of the dangers of opioid use without supervision of a medical professional is finally getting through and changing people’s mindset and behavior.”

In 2007, 4.9% of the respondents said they had abused prescription pain medications the previous year. In 2018 (the most recent year for which data are available), 3.7% said they had done so. The difference represents a 26% decrease in abuse. The analysis showed significant declines from 2012 to 2018, with the exception of 2015, when higher numbers were reported due to a survey redesign introduced that year.

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