Sedative use and misuse in the United States

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Public Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Sedative medications are widely prescribed for various conditions.
• Understanding the prevalence and correlates of sedative use and misuse is crucial for public health.
• Previous research has not fully elucidated the scope of sedative misuse in the general population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of sedative use and misuse in the general population.
• To identify demographic, psychiatric, and familial correlates associated with sedative misuse.
• To investigate factors related to self-perceived sedative dependence.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the National Comorbidity Survey, a representative sample of 8098 US adults.
• Employed multivariate logistic regression analyses to identify correlates of sedative use, non-prescription use, and self-perceived dependence.
• Analyzed lifetime prevalence rates for sedative misuse and dependence.

Main Results:

• Lifetime prevalence of self-perceived sedative dependence was 0.5%; 7.1% reported non-prescribed sedative use.
• Non-prescription sedative use was associated with male gender, lower income, higher education, major depression, agoraphobia, ASPD, and suicide ideation.
• Self-perceived sedative dependence was linked to older age, less education, and parental abuse of prescription medications.

Conclusions:

• Almost one in ten adults report lifetime misuse of sedatives.
• Sedative use and misuse are significantly associated with psychopathology and suicide risk.
• Parental abuse of prescription medications shows a specific association with sedative misuse in the general population, suggesting potential intergenerational patterns.