Recent Overdose Experiences in a Community Sample of Military Veterans Who Use Opioids

• Published date: 01 July 2017
• DOI: 10.1177/0022042617701255
• Date: 01 July 2017
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0022042617701255

Journal of Drug Issues

2017, Vol. 47(3) 479 –491

© The Author(s) 2017

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DOI: 10.1177/0022042617701255

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Article

Recent Overdose Experiences in

a Community Sample of Military

Veterans Who Use Opioids

Enrique R. Pouget1, Alex S. Bennett1, Luther Elliott1,

Andrew Rosenblum1, and Peter C. Britton2

Abstract

Rising rates of overdose mortality underscore the importance of understanding and preventing

overdose. We developed a seven-item scale for the assessment of nonfatal opioid-related

overdose experiences, adding items on others’ perceptions of whether the participant had

overdosed and whether an intervention was attempted to frequently used criteria. We

administered the scale to 240 primarily male and minority veterans, recruited using venue-

based and chain-referral sampling, who separated from the military post-9/11 and reported

current opioid use. The items were internally consistent, and correlated well with overdose

risk behaviors (r = .13-.45). The new scale detected overdose events in a significantly higher

proportion of participants (36.5%) than that using either self-report criterion (18.2%) or

difficulty breathing and losing consciousness criteria (23.8%). These experiences or perceptions

should be investigated to inform and better tailor the development of more effective overdose

prevention and response programs.

Keywords

opioids, overdose, drug use, drug poisoning, veterans

Drug poisoning or “overdose” has become the leading cause of injury death in the United States,

and has been increasing globally (Martins, Sampson, Cerda, & Galea, 2015; Rudd, Aleshire,

Zibbell, & Gladden, 2016; The Lancet, 2016). Most fatal overdoses involve the use of prescrip-

tion opioids (POs) or heroin, frequently combined with other drugs and/or alcohol (Johnson,

Hayes, Brown, Hoo, & Ethier, 2014; Rudd et al., 2016). The increase in opioid-related overdose

mortality is related in part to increased use of POs to treat chronic pain and diversion of these

drugs by individuals who may not have had them prescribed (Bohnert, Ilgen, et al., 2013; Rudd

et al., 2016). Pain patients who use POs may not necessarily be aware of overdose risks (Bohnert

et al., 2012; Bohnert, McCarthy, et al., 2013). Patients who are prescribed POs sometimes are

also prescribed other psychoactive drugs, such as benzodiazepines for anxiety, which can interact

with POs to increase overdose risk (Bohnert et al., 2012). In the United States, the overdose

1National Development and Research Institutes, Inc., New York, NY, USA

2Canandaigua VA Medical Center, NY, USA

Corresponding Author:

E. R. Pouget, Institute for Infectious Disease Research, National Development and Research Institutes, Inc., 71 W23rd

St., 4th fl., New York, NY 10010, USA.

Email: pouget@ndri.org

701255JODXXX10.1177/0022042617701255Journal of Drug IssuesPouget et al.

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