Gender differences in the prevalence of heroin and opioid analgesic misuse in the United States, 2015–2019

• Published in: Drug and alcohol dependence Vol. 227; p. 108978
• Main Authors: McHugh, R. Kathryn, Nguyen, Minh D., Chartoff, Elena H., Sugarman, Dawn E., Greenfield, Shelly F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 01.10.2021; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Adolescent girls; Adolescents; Analgesics; Drug abuse; Gender; Gender aspects; Gender differences; Heroin; Heroin misuse; Men; Narcotics; Opioid misuse; Opioid use disorder; Opioids; Polls & surveys; Regression analysis; Regression models; Sex differences; Sociodemographics; Substance use disorder; Women; United States > US; Women; Gender differences; Opioid use disorder; Heroin misuse; Opioid misuse
• ISSN: 0376-8716; 1879-0046
• DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108978

•The gap between men and women in opioid misuse is shrinking.•Women are more likely than men to initiate misuse of opioid analgesics.•Men have a modestly higher odds of past-year opioid analgesic misuse.•More men than women use heroin. Gender differences in the prevalence of opioid misuse continue to evolve and have not been well characterized in recent years. Our objective was to investigate gender differences in the prevalence of opioid misuse and use disorder in the US over the 5-year period from 2015 to 2019. We used annual survey data from the 2015–2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health to estimate gender differences in the prevalence of opioid misuse. We examined past-year opioid analgesic misuse initiation, opioid analgesic misuse, heroin use, opioid analgesic use disorder and heroin use disorder. Logistic regression models were used to test gender differences, adjusting for sociodemographic variables. In adjusted analyses, women had higher odds of having initiated opioid analgesic misuse in the past year compared to men. In contrast, men had higher odds of misuse of opioid analgesics, heroin use, and an opioid analgesic or heroin use disorder. Although opioid misuse has historically been more prevalent in men, the gender difference in opioid analgesic misuse continues to narrow, with more women initiating misuse than men including higher rates of misuse in adolescent girls. Heroin use continues to be approximately twice as common in men as women.