TY - JOUR
T1 - Trends in Adolescent Heroin and Injection Drug Use in Nine Urban Centers in the U.S., 1999–2017
AU - Brighthaupt, Sherri Chanelle
AU - Schneider, Kristin E.
AU - Johnson, Julie K.
AU - Jones, Abenaa A.
AU - Johnson, Renee M.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health ( K01DA031738l , R.M.J.; T32DA007292 , S.C.B., J.K.J., K.E.S., R.M.J.). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official views of the NIH. The study sponsor had no role in determining study design; data collection, analysis, or interpretation; writing the report; or the decision to submit the report for publication.
Funding Information:
This research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (K01DA031738l, R.M.J.; T32DA007292, S.C.B., J.K.J., K.E.S., R.M.J.). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official views of the NIH. The study sponsor had no role in determining study design; data collection, analysis, or interpretation; writing the report; or the decision to submit the report for publication. Authors' contributions: S.C.B. and K.E.S. conceptualized the study. S.C.B. and J.K.J. conducted the data analysis. All authors contributed to the interpretation of the data. S.C.B. and K.E.S. drafted the article. All authors contributed to revising the article and provided final approval of it before submission.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
PY - 2019/8
Y1 - 2019/8
N2 - Purpose: Although estimates of heroin and injection drug use (IDU) among U.S. adolescents have remained low and stable, national data may mask local variation in use. Adolescent use may be higher in urban areas, many of which have historically high rates of heroin use and IDU. We investigate trends in heroin use and IDU among 9th–12th grade students in major urban centers in the U.S. Methods: We used local Youth Risk Behavior Survey data from all large, urban school districts (n = 9) with at least 5 years of weighted, publicly available data. We used time series mean estimation to estimate the prevalence of heroin use and IDU among high school students from 1999 to 2017 and used logistic regression to test for linear and quadratic trends. Results: We observed statistically significant linear increases in (1) lifetime heroin use in New York (β = .43, 1%–3.9%), Chicago (β = .15, 3.1%–4.6%), and Milwaukee (β = .35, 2.8%–7.4%); and (2) lifetime IDU in New York (β = .34, .8%–2.7%), Orange County (β = .17, 2.2%–3.5%), and Miami-Dade County (β = .16, 2.7%–3.9%). Only San Bernardino experienced significant decreases in heroin use (β = −.34, 4.6%–1.6%) and IDU (β = −.20, 2.5%–1.9%) over the time period. Conclusions: In contrast to national trends, the prevalence of heroin use is increasing among adolescents in certain urban centers in the U.S. Our results illustrate that national averages mask local variation in adolescent heroin use. Further research with locally representative samples is needed to inform public health policy and practice, especially in cities where heroin problems have been historically endemic and continue to rise.
AB - Purpose: Although estimates of heroin and injection drug use (IDU) among U.S. adolescents have remained low and stable, national data may mask local variation in use. Adolescent use may be higher in urban areas, many of which have historically high rates of heroin use and IDU. We investigate trends in heroin use and IDU among 9th–12th grade students in major urban centers in the U.S. Methods: We used local Youth Risk Behavior Survey data from all large, urban school districts (n = 9) with at least 5 years of weighted, publicly available data. We used time series mean estimation to estimate the prevalence of heroin use and IDU among high school students from 1999 to 2017 and used logistic regression to test for linear and quadratic trends. Results: We observed statistically significant linear increases in (1) lifetime heroin use in New York (β = .43, 1%–3.9%), Chicago (β = .15, 3.1%–4.6%), and Milwaukee (β = .35, 2.8%–7.4%); and (2) lifetime IDU in New York (β = .34, .8%–2.7%), Orange County (β = .17, 2.2%–3.5%), and Miami-Dade County (β = .16, 2.7%–3.9%). Only San Bernardino experienced significant decreases in heroin use (β = −.34, 4.6%–1.6%) and IDU (β = −.20, 2.5%–1.9%) over the time period. Conclusions: In contrast to national trends, the prevalence of heroin use is increasing among adolescents in certain urban centers in the U.S. Our results illustrate that national averages mask local variation in adolescent heroin use. Further research with locally representative samples is needed to inform public health policy and practice, especially in cities where heroin problems have been historically endemic and continue to rise.
KW - Adolescent drug use
KW - Heroin
KW - Injection drug use
KW - Opioids
KW - Trends
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.03.026
DO - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.03.026
M3 - Article
C2 - 31331542
AN - SCOPUS:85068783796
SN - 1054-139X
VL - 65
SP - 210
EP - 215
JO - Journal of Adolescent Health
JF - Journal of Adolescent Health
IS - 2
ER -