Prescription Opioids & Substance Abuse
Please click below to learn more about our Prescription Opioids projects.
PI: Carri Casteel
University of Iowa, College of Public Health
Occupational and Environmental Health
Funding source: Center-funded project
Prescription opioid deaths in Iowa have quadrupled in the past 20 years. While prescription drug overdose deaths and rates of opioid prescribing are low in Iowa compared to other states, rates of prescription opioid overdose deaths since 1999 have increased four-fold. Heroin overdose death rates in Iowa have increased more than nine-fold; the rapid growth of heroin death rates in Iowa is two to three times higher than the national average. The specific aims of the project were to: (1) Evaluate the association of specific diagnoses leading to opioid use with risk of opioid abuse or dependence, as well as prescription opioid overdose, among opioid users in Iowa, (2) Evaluate the effect of prescription opioid prescribing patterns on the risk of opioid abuse or dependence, as well as prescription opioid overdose, among opioid users in Iowa, and (3) Describe county- and regional-level programs and interventions to reduce prescription drug abuse and overdose in Iowa.
PI: Xuan Song, PhD
University of Iowa, College of Engineering
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Funding source: UI IPRC
OTHER ACTIVITIES: The UI IPRC has worked with a network of CDC-funded injury centers to address the opioid epidemic, has evaluated the effectiveness of Iowa’s Prescription Monitoring Program in modifying opioid pain releiver prescribing practices, and has examined how medical conditions and corresponding prescribing patterns are related to future opioid abuse and overdose among those who receive opioid prescriptions. Read more about UI IPRC’s opioid work.
See blog post: U.S. injury centers fight opioid epidemic.
