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METHOD
Sample
The 20012002 NESARC (wave 1), and the 20042005
follow-up (wave 2), is a nationally representative survey of
the noninstitutionalized adult U.S. population conducted
by the U.S. Census Bureau under the direction of the National
Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, as described
elsewhere (1214). The wave 1 response rate was 81%. Excluding ineligible respondents (e.g., deceased), the wave 2
response rate was 86.7%, resulting in a cumulative response
rate of 70.2% (N=34,653). Wave 2 NESARC weights include
a component that adjusts for nonresponse, demographic
factors, and psychiatric diagnoses to ensure that the wave
2 sample approximated the target population, that is, the
original sample minus attrition between the two waves (12).
Assessment
All diagnoses for waves 1 and 2 were made using the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview
ScheduleDSM-IV version (AUDADIS-IV) (15). Consistent
with previous reports, nonmedical use of a prescription opioid
was dened as using a prescription drug without a prescription, in greater amounts, more often, or longer than prescribed, or for a reason other than a doctor said you should
use them during the 12 months preceding the interview.
More than 30 symptom items are used by the AUDADIS-IV to
dene 12-month prescription opioid use disorders (abuse
or dependence) according to DSM-IV criteria. The NESARC
also collected information for other substance use disorders
(nicotine dependence, alcohol use disorders, and drug use
disorders, including other prescription drug use disorders).
The reliability of the AUDADIS-IV prescription opioid use
questions (kappa=0.66) and that of associated substance use
disorder diagnoses (kappa values, 0.530.84) are well documented in both clinical (16) and general population (17) samples.
The prescription opioid use disorder diagnosis also has
established concurrent and predictive validity related to impairment and treatment seeking (18).
Mood disorders included major depressive disorder, dysthymia, bipolar I disorder, and bipolar II disorder. Anxiety
disorders included panic disorder, social anxiety disorder,
specic phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder. AUDADISIV methods to diagnose these disorders have been described in
detail elsewhere (19). Test-retest reliabilities for AUDADIS-IV
mood, anxiety, and personality disorders in the general population and in clinical settings were fair to good. Convergent validity was good to excellent for all mood, anxiety, and
personality disorder diagnoses, showing good agreement with
psychiatrist reappraisals (kappa values, 0.640.68) (20). As in
our previous work (21), family histories of alcohol use disorders,
drug use disorders, antisocial personality disorder, and depression were sought for rst-degree relatives and were also
assessed with the AUDADIS-IV, using readily observable
manifestations of the disorders. The test-retest reliability for
AUDADIS family history variables is very good to excellent (14).
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Assessment of Pain
Consistent with previous national studies (4), pain was assessed using the pain item of the Medical Outcomes Study
12-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) (22), a valid measure that is commonly used in population surveys and is
sensitive to change (23, 24). The pain item measures the
amount to which pain interfered with daily activities during
the past month, on a 5-point scale (not at all, a little bit,
moderately, quite a bit, and extremely) (25). The pain measure was collapsed into two levels to indicate whether pain
was associated with no or little interference (no pain) or
moderate to extreme interference (pain) (2). In preliminary
analyses, pain interference was associated with lower scores
on each of the other 11 items of the SF-12 (all p values, ,0.001)
and increased the likelihood of all medical conditions
assessed in the NESARC (odds ratios, 2.87.6; all p values,
,0.001). This conrmed previous analyses indicating that
greater interference of the SF-12 pain item was associated with
higher health care expenditures, more missed days of work,
lower productivity (4), and greater probability and frequency
of nonmedical use of prescription drugs, even after adjusting
for multiple comorbidities (9).
Statistical Analysis
Wave 1 descriptive demographic and clinical characteristics
were compared between individuals with and without pain
and between individuals with and without a prescription
opioid use disorder. Group differences were evaluated with
chi-square or t tests.
In separate analyses, odds ratios and adjusted odds ratios,
controlling for age, sex, other substance use disorders, and
mood or anxiety disorders at wave 1, were then used to assess
the strength of associations at wave 1 between pain severity
and prescription opioid use disorder.
We built our model for the prospective relationship between pain and prescription opioid use disorder in two steps.
First, a series of logistic regression models were used to
examine whether pain at wave 1 was associated with the prevalence and incidence of prescription opioid use disorders at
wave 2 and whether prescription drug use disorder at wave 1
was associated with the prevalence and incidence of pain at
wave 2. Incidence was dened as the number of new cases
reported between wave 1 and wave 2. Exploratory analyses
examined whether there were any interactions between time
of pain assessment (wave 1 versus wave 2) and likelihood of
prescription drug use disorders at wave 2. All logistic regression models were adjusted for age, sex, other substance
use disorders, and mood or anxiety disorders at wave 1, which
have been shown to be associated both with pain (24) and
with prescription opioid use disorders (26, 27). In addition,
the prevalence models adjusted for current prescription
opioid use disorder or level of pain at wave 1, as appropriate.
In the second step, because of the bidirectional relationship between pain and prescription opioid use disorders,
we used structural equation models to model the interdependency between pain and prescription opioid use
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TABLE 1. Background Characteristics of NESARC Respondents, by Prescription Opioid Use Disorder and Pain Interference Status
at Wave 1a
Prescription Opioid Use Disorder
Characteristic
Sex
Male
Female
Family history
Alcohol use disorders
Drug use disorders
Depression
Antisocial personality
disorder
Any other 12-month
substance use disorder
Any 12-month mood
or anxiety disorder
a
Pain Interference
SD
Mean
SD
35.19
14.41
45.11
17.33
6.01 ,0.001
6.15
SD
Mean
SD
51.77
17.70
43.53
16.88
41.56
58.44
2,477
4,466
49.38
50.62
12,008
15,514
23.53
,0.001
75.15 ,0.001
0.02
63.48
36.52
58
46
47.87
52.13
14,506
20,043
61.21
30.05
52.44
34.35
57
33
57
34
34.38
16.61
32.58
17.87
12,193
5,939
11,076
6,177
12.20 ,0.001
6.30
0.01
9.78
0.003
6.61
0.01
42.00
20.79
38.18
21.86
2,943
1,461
2,543
1,493
32.93
15.77
31.55
17.12
9,294
4,500
8,578
4,714
74.53
76
18.12
5,912
33.20 ,0.001
21.82
1,385
17.61
4,600
36.08 ,0.001
50.39
54
16.10
5,873
18.44 ,0.001
24.57
1,748
14.38
4,172
153.55 ,0.001
112.06
51.65
68.69
43.78
,0.001
,0.001
,0.001
,0.001
NESARC=the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Pain interference denotes moderate to extreme interference.
disorders at waves 1 and 2. Jointly modeling pain and prescription use disorders avoids simultaneous equation bias (28),
which can result when they are modeled in separate, unlinked
regressions. Because the prevalence of pain and prescription
drug use disorders, along with several covariates in the model,
differs by sex (3, 29), we used multiple group structural equation model analyses to examine whether the model was invariant by sex, comparing a model with all parameters free
to differ across sex to one in which they were all the same.
Invariance was determined by nding this chi-square difference test nonsignicant (p.0.05). Additional structural
equation models were examined substituting specic criteria (tolerance and withdrawal) or an indicator of using prescription opioids longer or at greater doses than prescribed for
prescription opioid use disorder at wave 2. Logistic regression
models were tted and adjusted odds ratios estimated with 95%
condence intervals using SUDAAN. The structural equation
models were tted with standardized probit regression coefcients and p values in Mplus, using weighted least squares, an
estimator that is robust for nonnormality. Because the structural equation models being estimated were fully saturated (i.e.,
all cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between pain
and prescription opioid use disorder at both waves were freely
modeled such that the degrees of freedom was zero), standard
structural equation model t statistics provide no additional
information. Both SUDAAN and Mplus take into account
the complex design features of the NESARC.
RESULTS
Bivariate Associations
At wave 1, the prevalence of pain was 18.76% (N=6,943) and the
prevalence of prescription opioid use disorders was 0.33%
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BLANCO ET AL.
TABLE 3. Structural Model Correlations and Probabilities of Background Demographic and Clinical Characteristics With Prescription
Opioid Use Disorder and Pain Interference at NESARC Waves 1 and 2a
Wave 1
Prescription Opioid
Use Disorder
Characteristic
Age
Male
Family history
Alcohol use disorder
Drug use disorder
Depression
Antisocial personality disorder
Other 12-month substance use disorderb
Any 12-month mood or anxiety disorderc
Wave 2
Pain Interference
Prescription Opioid
Use Disorder
0.29
0.06
,0.001
,0.001
0.22
0.07
,0.001
0.07
Pain Interference
b
0.13
0.09
0.002
0.02
0.10
0.01
0.03
0.002
0.04
0.72
0.50
0.95
0.04
0.03
0.01
0.02
,0.001
0.006
0.24
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.06
0.03
0.16
0.29
0.20
0.38
0.03
0.001
0.004
0.03
0.24
0.14
,0.001
,0.001
0.09
0.13
,0.001
,0.001
0.09
0.05
0.02
0.09
0.02
0.05
0.18
0.03
p
,0.001
0.01
0.007
0.95
0.69
0.004
0.13
,0.001
NESARC=National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Pain interference denotes moderate to extreme interference. See Figure 1 for
structural model of variables of primary interest.
b
Includes nicotine dependence, alcohol use disorder, drug use disorder, and other (nonopioid) prescription drug use disorders.
c
Includes major depressive disorder, dysthymia, bipolar I disorder, bipolar II disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, specic phobia, and generalized
anxiety disorder.
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