[ad_1]
A new study on rates of prescription opioid misuse by sexual orientation confirms what earlier, less comprehensive studies suggested: researchers, lesbian, gay and bisexual people are at greater risk to abuse opioids.
But the study also raises questions about a disturbing trend in a subset of the LGBT community. If opioid abuse rates tend to be lower among women in general – and this is the case, according to the researchers – then why are bisexual women the most exposed to risk of abuse of one of the study groups?
A new study from New York University School of Medicine found that 13.5% of self-identified bisexual women had misused opioids over the last year. Compare that to a 5% abuse rate among Americans who identify as being heterosexual and at a 9% abuse rate among those who identify as gay or lesbian, according to a press release issued by NYU researchers.
"As a rule, women are better protected against drug use," said Joseph J. Palamar, lead author of the study and associate professor of population health at NYU, according to the Washington Post. "It's usually the men who worry us."
The study uses data from 2015 of 42,802 people who participated in the national survey on drug use and health. This year was the first time that the survey asked about sexual attraction and orientation. The findings were published Nov. 19 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine – and according to the authors, their researches are the first to use a nationally representative sample to study how abuse is occurring. Prescription opioids vary according to sexual orientation.
Researchers define "misuse" as the use of prescription opioids against a doctor's prescription, without a prescription, in large quantities or for a duration longer than that prescribed.
The results show that women who claim to be bisexual were twice as likely to abuse prescription opioids as those in other orientations, said one researcher. Although this conclusion differs from the general trend in women, it was "consistent with trends in the literature suggesting increased consumption of alcohol and substances (such as smoking and illicit drug use) among bisexual women." "Write the researchers.
"With the national opioid crisis worsening, it's important to focus on preventing abuse among the most exposed groups," Palamar said in a statement.
Researchers offer a handful of potential explanations, including the "Minority Stress Model."
This explanation suggests that "members of minority groups tend to be subject to greater stress due to personal and indirect experiences of stigma and discrimination, and that this additional stress can predispose individuals to increased rates of mesaptive adaptation behaviors, including the use of psychoactive substances "write.
The rate of misuse of opioids prescribed by bisexual men – 8.3% – was lower than that of 13.5% of bisexual women who had abused opioids in the previous year. Bisexual men were also less exposed than homosexual men, 10% of whom had abused opioids in the same period. The rate was 5.3% for heterosexual men, 3.7% for heterosexual women and 6.8% for lesbians, according to the study.
The researchers say that women who identify as bisexual may have particular difficulties because of the homophobia of the heterosexual community and the biphobia of the lesbian community.
The stigmatization of many parties exacerbates the stress of bisexual women, "without providing the kind of community-driven support that can reduce stigma and discrimination," write the authors.
Future research will be needed to better understand why the risk of prescription opioid abuse among bisexual women is higher, according to the study.
To solve the problem identified by the study, the researchers recommend educational programs aimed at reducing the rates of abuse of use by sexual minorities.
"Primary health care providers, educators and even parents need to consider sexual orientation when assessing the risk of opioid abuse," said Dustin T. Duncan, author of the report. study and associate professor at NYU.
Researchers write that they chose to exclude heroin use from this study and focus on prescription opioid abuse "so that the results are simpler."
The authors also warned against using the study to stigmatize LGBT people, reports the newspaper Post.
"We need to continue to document people at risk," Duncan said, according to the Post. "This study is really the first step."
[ad_2]
Source link
