LGBT people at opioid risk in US

PEOPLE who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual are more likely to misuse prescription opioids than those who identify as heterosexual – and bisexual women face a particularly high risk, according to a new US study.

The study from the New York University School of Medicine, published on Monday in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, is the first to use a nationally representative sample of adults in the US to examine sexual orientation as a risk factor for prescription opioid misuse, its authors said.

Its findings shed light on the disproportionate risks faced by LGBT people amid the ongoing US opioid epidemic, estimated to have killed almost 50 000 people from overdoses last year.

The study’s authors said the results were consistent with other research showing that sexual minorities, particularly bisexual women, are more likely to report alcohol and substance abuse – and poorer health overall.

The researchers analysed data from about 42 800 people.

The survey also queried the misuse of precription opioids, defined as using prescription pain reliever drugs in ways that were not directed by a doctor, in both the past month and the past year.

One of the study’s authors, Joseph Palamar, said he found these results particularly interesting, in part because the opioid epidemic is so often associated with men.

“Typically women are more protected against drug use,” said Palamar, an associate professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU’s School of Medicine. “It’s usually the men we worry about.” | Washington Post