Genders Differ in Abuse of Prescription Pain Pills

The use of opioids to treat chronic pain is growing, and with it grows the number of people who find themselves addicted to prescription pain pills.  Experts estimate that up to 16% of the country can be classified as currently having a pain medication addiction.  In the hope of understanding how and why addictions to prescription pain pills develop, researchers have begun to investigate the reasons why men and women may develop such addictions, and how gender differences may increase the likelihood of future addictions.

In a study led by Robert N. Jamison, PhD., a clinical psychologist at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 662 chronic noncancer pain sufferers taking opioid drugs for pain relief were studied.  Half the participants were male and half were female.  In addition to urine tests five months into the study to check for the presence of drugs, researchers also utilized data collected from the subjects’ physicians who completed substance misuse behavior checklists.

The research revealed significant differences in the ways men and women form addictions to opioid medications, the personal factors behind addictions, and the best ways to treat each gender for substance abuse problems.

Genders differ in the causes behind their addictions, and though men and women are equally likely to display aberrant drug behavior, they differ in risk factors for abuse of opioids.  Women who misuse pain medications are, Jamison says, more likely to report sexual or physical abuse or have a history of psychiatric problems.  Also, women with histories of significant anxiety or depression tend to self-medicate mood disorders with opioid drugs.

Men who misuse pain medications are more likely to have associations with other people who abuse drugs and alcohol and participate in criminal behavior.  These men often show signs of social or behavioral problems and are less likely than addicted women to display signs of emotional disorders.

Effective treatment options vary with gender, as well.  Women, Jamison has found, are more likely to be honest and forthcoming about psychological issues that contribute to their addictions.  Jamison recommends that physicians watch for signs of stress in women taking opioid medications and counsel them on the importance of not using the pills to help with sleep or to handle stress.

In the prevention of opioid drug addiction in men taking prescriptions for pain relief, Jamison suggests that physicians closely monitor them for indications of behavioral problems.  In addition, pill counting and regular urine screenings are advisable.

Recognizing the need for further research in this field, Jamison and colleagues write, “Given the prominence of sex differences in a variety of pain-related processes, we may eventually arrive at a method for tailoring risk assessment and risk-reducing interventions in part as a function of gender.”