EPIDEMIOLOGY OF

SUBSTANCE USE
DISORDERS
 Problem, background of problem, and
significance of the problem

Problem Background of Problem:

Significance
There is a wealth of information on
The high reported the patterns of substance use in The startling rise in
prevalence rates of globally representative country prevalence rates
substance dependency samples thanks to epidemiological
between the ages
research of substance use and
among American adults substance use disorders. The use of of 13 and 18
are comparable to genetic epidemiology research has emphasizes
those of other mental repeatedly shown that hereditary adolescence as the
characteristics have a significant
illnesses and chronic impact on how quickly drug use
critical time for the
physical conditions with develops into dependency, although emergence of drug
significant public health environmental factors specific to the use disorders.
person have a significant impact on
implications. exposure and early substance use.
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 Signs, Symptoms, Treatment
Signs of substance use disorder: Treatment:
If a person continues to use drugs despite the There is no one treatment technique that works
fact that doing so has previously resulted in for everyone, but evidence demonstrates that
issues this is a key warning sign of addiction. the most successful strategy for treating
Other indications can be: attempting to reduce
addiction is the combination of behavioral
or quit using drugs but failing to succeed, using
drugs to vent anger or frustration at others,
therapy and drugs for opioid use disorder.
drug usage damages friendships and family Finding or building social networks and
ties, fear associated with running out of circumstances that support recovery efforts
medications, stealing substances or cash to helps a lot of patients make big improvements
buy substances.and being hospitalized or in their life and keep them in remission.
arrested for drug usage.

What happens if it is not treated? : Similar to other illnesses like obesity, addiction is a sickness. Both
interfere with an organ's natural, healthy functioning, have substantial negative repercussions, and
are frequently avoidable and curable. Symptoms can last a lifespan and even result in death if
untreated. Drug usage can have a variety of negative side effects in addition to the major dangers of
3 addiction, misuse, mortality, and overdose
 Data Collection
In the past ten years, three nationally representative surveys have
been carried out in the United States to gather information on the
prevalence of drug use among people. The surveys were conducted
by The National Comorbidity Survey Replication, the National
Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, and the
National Survey on Drug Use and Health. (SAMHSA 2011).

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Summary of Surveys
The National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and
Related Conditions (NESARC) and the National
Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) surveys'
12-month and lifetime prevalence rates for alcohol
and drug misuse and dependence are shown in
Table 1. The lifetime rates are significantly higher
than the 12-month rates in both investigations. The
prevalence rates of alcohol use disorders in the
NESARC study (4.7% and 3.8% for 12 month
periods, and 17.8% and 12.5% for lifetime periods,
for abuse and dependence, respectively) were
significantly higher than those estimated in the
NCS-R survey (3.1% and 1.3% for 12 month
periods, and 13.2% and 5.4% for lifetime periods,
for abuse and dependence, respectively).

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 Agents, Signs and Symptoms, Contagious?
✘ Agents:
✗ The probability of developing an addiction varies from person to person, and no one
characteristic indicates whether a person will become hooked to drugs. Environmental or
biological variables can both provide a risk and provide protection. Substance abuse
disorders are non-contagious and can not “spread” like a typical virus.
✘ Signs and symptoms:
✗ attempting to reduce or quit using drugs but failing to succeed.
✗ Using drugs to vent anger or frustration at others.
✗ consuming a medicine to counteract the side effects of another.
✗ making blunders because of drug usage at work or in school.
✗ Drug usage damages friendships and family ties.
✗ fear associated with running out of medications.
✗ stealing substances or cash to buy substances.
✗ being hospitalized or arrested for drug usage.
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 Host characteristics
✘ Age:
✗ Elderly adults receive 25% of all prescriptions for drugs. The number of persons over 50 who
require drug abuse treatment has drastically risen throughout the past few decades.
✘ Sex:
✗ Men are more at risk to develop an addiction to drugs.
✘ Nativity:
✗ When paired with mother stress and family history of illness, study found that there were no
longer any significant differences in alcohol consumption by nativity after adjusting for
socioeconomic characteristics, social support, and paternal health practices.
✘ Marital status:
✗ In contrast to individuals who stay unmarried, research has found that marriage actually
hastens the decline in alcohol and drug use.
✘ Ethnic group:
✗ Native Americans are most at risk and have the highest rates of substance abuse disorders.
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Environmental attributes
✘ Geographic areas:
✗ Due to the lack of resources for prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation, substance use can be particularly difficult to battle in
rural areas.
✘ Social and economic factors:
✗ Youth from households with better socioeconomic position have been reported to have a higher probability of using drugs,
according to certain research. Young adults from households with higher socioeconomic class tend to consume alcohol more
frequently and in larger amounts, according to a composite measure of socioeconomic status.
✘ Income:
✗ The probability of drug-related death is decreased in counties with high levels of social capital, as well as in counties with high
percentages of families earning over $150,000 and/or low percentages of households earning under $15,000.
✘ Housing:
✗ A significant role is the family environment, especially throughout childhood. Children's likelihood of developing drug problems in
the future can be heightened by parents or other older family members who abuse drugs, alcohol, or who break the law.
✘ Occupation:
✗ Those who work in the food service and restaurant industry reported the highest rates of substance abuse disorder. Former
military in the US also reported high rates of substance abuse disorder.
✘ Education:
✗ During the adolescent years, friends and other peers might have a growing amount of influence. Even those without risk factors
may be persuaded to use drugs for the first time by teens who use them. A child's likelihood of using or developing a drug
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addiction may increase if they struggle in school or have poor social skills.
 Temporal Variation

Because addiction is so broad, I chose to look at cigarette use to look at prevalence and incidence among
drug addiction. We can see how there was a major spike in cigarette use between 1930-1950.. Cigarette
use per person rose from 54 cigarettes in 1900 to 4345 cigarettes in 1963, then fell to 2261 cigarettes in
1998. Some drops correspond to specific occasions, such the initial studies indicating a connection
between smoking and cancer in the 1950s.
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 TED TALK: Everything you think you know
about addiction is wrong | Johann Hari

Presented by Johann Hari

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY9DcIMGx
Ms&t=1s

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 TED Talk Summary:

The speaker explores what actually drives addiction, and how we can get
through it. Johann Hari has personally witnessed the failure of our present
approaches while watching close ones battle their addictions. He began to
question why we treat addicts the way we do and whether there may be a more
effective approach

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 TED Talk Summary (cont):

He also focused on the importance of one's environment and how that affects
addiction, interesting pointing to a study done with heroin use among Vietnam
war veterans.. His inquiries led him all over the world, as he reveals in this
incredibly intimate lecture, and they turned up some unexpected and upbeat
methods of approaching a long-standing issue.

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 TED Talk vs. Research

As mentioned Research:
TED TALK before in slide 8, While his take was
interesting, the research
Hari focuses on this research has
also shows how
shown that many
aspect of addiction environmental addiction may be a bit
while exploring factors can affect a more complicated, and
genetic and societal
heroin use among person’s likelihood
factors also play a huge
to develop a
Vietnam veterans. substance abuse role on certain
disorder. addictions.

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 Current Research (2022)

A recent article explored anger and substance abuse. There may be a connection between anger
and drug usage. According to earlier studies, drug users score particularly highly on the rage scale
when compared to non-users. Anger is typically seen as a component of an adaptive emotional
response brought on by environmental cues that are necessary for creating swift and necessary
reflexes to save life. The perceived stimulus strength can fluctuate, and it may occasionally be
taken as a danger or a source of annoyance. The study focused on past research mostly based
on the US. I find that looking at behaviors can be helpful since most of the research focuses on
environmental and genetic factors.
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 Further research
and progress
A lot of research on early childhood prevention has
shown to effectively reduce rates of people with
substance abuse disorders. In order to change the
ratio of risk and protective variables for drug use in
families, schools, and communities, scientists have
created a wide range of programs.
Resources
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Achievements in public health, 1900-1999: Tobacco use -- United States, 1900-1999. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Retrieved November 20, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4843a2.htm
Congdon P. (2020). Geographical Aspects of Recent Trends in Drug-Related Deaths, with a Focus on Intra-National Contextual Variation. International
journal of environmental research and public health, 17(21), 8081. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218081
Hari, J. (n.d.). Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong. Johann Hari: Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong | TED Talk.
Retrieved November 20, 2022, from
https://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_you_know_about_addiction_is_wrong?language=en
Home Page. SAMHSA.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2022, from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/
Laitano, H. V., Ely, A., Sordi, A. O., Schuch, F. B., Pechansky, F., Hartmann, T., Hilgert, J. B., Wendland, E. M., Von Dimen, L., Scherer, J. N., Mendes Calixto, A.,
Narvaez, J. C. M., Ornell, F., & Kessler, F. H. P. (2022). Anger and substance abuse: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Revista Brasileira de
Psiquiatria, 44(1), 103–110. https://doi-org.libserv-prd.bridgew.edu/10.1590/1516-4446-2020-1133
Lan, C., Fiellin, D. A., Barry, D. T., Bryant, K. J., Gordon, A. J., Edelman, E. J., Gaither, J. R., Maisto, S. A., Marshall, B. D. L., & Lan, C.-W. (2016). The epidemiology
of substance use disorders in US Veterans: A systematic review and analysis of assessment methods. American Journal on Addictions, 25(1), 7–24.
https://doi-org.libserv-prd.bridgew.edu/10.1111/ajad.12319
Merikangas, K. R., & McClair, V. L. (2012). Epidemiology of substance use disorders. Human genetics, 131(6), 779–789.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00439-012-1168-0
NIDA. 2020, July 10. Preventing Drug Misuse and Addiction: The Best Strategy. Retrieved from
https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/preventing-drug-misuse-addiction-best-strategy on 2022, November
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Patrick, M. E., Wightman, P., Schoeni, R. F., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2012). Socioeconomic status and substance use among young adults: a comparison across
constructs and drugs. Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs, 73(5), 772–782. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2012.73.772
Perreira, K. M., & Cortes, K. E. (2006). Race/ethnicity and nativity differences in alcohol and tobacco use during pregnancy. American journal of public
health, 96(9), 1629–1636. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2004.056598 16