Identifying Opioid Use Among Construction Workers: Pain and Prescription Opioid Use Among US Construction Workers: Findings From the 2011-2018 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  CPWR--The Center for Construction Research and Training
• Description:
  The opioid epidemic has been particularly severe for workers in the construction industry, who are more likely to use opioids and to die of opioid-related overdoses than workers overall. Following their studies on the associations with opioid use and injuries and musculoskeletal conditions among construction workers, the researchers examined types of pain and patterns of opioid and non-opioid analgesic use among these workers using data from the 2011-2018 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). Almost 16% of construction workers in the study population used either opioid or non-opioid analgesics during the study period. On average, an estimated 10% of construction workers (n=1.2 million) used prescription opioid analgesics annually. Workers suffering from work-related injuries were almost four times as likely to use prescription opioids than those without injuries. In comparison, those with nonwork-related injuries were three times as likely to use prescription opioids as those without. Workers with musculoskeletal disorders, poor physical health, or mental health disorders were twice as likely to use prescription opioids than those without the listed conditions. Those with other pain (such as cancer or headaches/migraines) had a higher prevalence of opioid use than those without the conditions. The findings suggest the workplace can play an important role in addressing opioid use. Multiprong strategies could help reduce opioid use, including: Supporting workers with pain conditions or existing injuries, as well as those in need of health care or mental health care through finding alternative treatments and providing workplace services to promote recovery from injuries. Improving working conditions to reduce factors leading to opioid use, including injuries and stress. Read the article: https://bit.ly/3suYOsu. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Mental Health Musculoskeletal Diseases Nervous System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Analgesics Construction Industry Injuries Mental Health MSD Musculoskeletal Disorders Prescription Drugs
• Series:
  CPWR - Center for Construction Research and Training Publications
• Subseries:
  Key Findings from Research
• Publisher:
  CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1 pdf page
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20067591
• Citation:
  Key findings from research. Silver Spring, MD: CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training, 2022 Jun; :1
• Email:
  bmemarian@cpwr.com
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  CPWR - The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring, Maryland
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20090901
• End Date:
  20240831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:54cd0d16a599569deef918901a309aa52333c0662e8848b46636cf423ecb34d46a5100bde6f37a08bd660b9e3096371387eb51d571d2be987ce3c8dae34d0426
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/138726/cdc_138726_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 68.21 KB ]