Prescription Opioid Misuse and Sports-Related Concussion Among High School Students in the United States.
See Wan Tham, Tonya M Palermo, Sara P D Chrisman and 1 others
PMID 34489384WHAT IT FOUND
High school students who reported a concussion were more likely to report prescription opioid misuse: 9.8% versus 5.5%.
The link persisted after accounting for age, sex, depressive symptoms, alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use.
Key findings
01Students reporting at least one concussion had higher current prescription opioid misuse than students reporting none: 9.8% versus 5.5%.
02Concussion remained associated with current prescription opioid misuse after controlling for age, sex, depressive symptoms, and current tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use, with adjusted odds ratio 1.5 (95% confidence interval 1.0 to 2.3, p 0.029).
03Current prescription opioid misuse was 7.7% among adolescents who reported one concussion, 12.8% among adolescents who reported 2 concussions, and 16.0% among adolescents reporting 4 or more concussions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study used a cross-sectional design, so it cannot show whether concussion came before prescription opioid misuse or which caused the other. Prescription opioid misuse was measured with a single self-report item, not a validated questionnaire, and it did not capture the intention behind misuse. Both concussion and prescription opioid misuse came from self-report items in a school survey. The analysis did not impute missing data. The survey response rate was 60.3%, so some students did not participate.
Declared interests
The article lists research support from NIH extramural funding. The named authors report no conflicts of interest to report.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that concussion causes prescription opioid misuse. The study measured both at one time and cannot show which came first.