The CDC has recently uncovered some shocking statistics regarding women and the use of pain killers. They recently reported that more women have died from drug overdoses than from motor vehicle traffic injuries since 2007. Also, four times as women died from drug overdose in 2010 than were victims of homicide.
While men are more likely than women to die from drug overdose, the percentage increase in the rate of overdose deaths was greater for women (151%) than for men (85%) for the period between 1999 and 2010.
For the past decade, recommendations to decrease the abuse and misuse of controlled substances have done little to combat this rising problem. So why then have both prescribing controlled substances and drug overdosing deaths among women risen?
Women between the ages of 45 and 54 were at highest risk of abusing pain medication.
There was a reported five-fold increase in the number and rate of middle-aged women taking pain medications.
One contributing factor is access. Women frequently have an assortment of different medications that can be dangerous or deadly if taken in combination. Because women are often stereotyped as emotional and psychological, many times the pain is ignored in favor of a sedative.
The CDC is calling for more public and medical community awareness of the risk. All About Women is proud to blog about this issue to help promote awareness.
Here’s a quick list of the major points of the CDC report:
- In 2010, sufficient opioid pain relievers were sold to medicate every single adult in the United States every 4 hours for an entire month.
- Although the death rate for pain pill overdose is greater for men than women, over the last 20 years more women than men were hospitalized after overdoses.
- Women more often than men are apt to report common forms of pain experienced for longer periods of time. Pain is reportedly felt more acutely in women, which is likely the reason why women are more likely than men to be prescribed pain pills at higher doses and to use them more regularly.
- Abuse of OPR is a particular problem for women of childbearing age. The risks and benefits of treating chronic conditions with OPR during pregnancy should be weighed carefully, including discussion with a pregnancy physician.
While the report certainly acknowledges legitimate access to treatment for chronic pain, it suggests communities should try to increase access for women, especially pregnant women, to substance abuse treatment services.
The physicians of All About Women want to assure you we follow prescribing guidelines when treating women for pain.
If you would like to talk with someone about the overuse of pain medications, please contact us. We offer a caring and comfortable setting and are committed to serving our patients.
Family members should become familiar with signs of medication abuse because many times it is a member of the family who is the first to recognize the problem. If you believe a family member is suffering from this growing problem, talk to him or her about the importance of having an honest conversation with a physician.
