Moriah Harton

My name is Moriah Harton and I am a first year in the Epidemiology PhD program working with Dr. Maria Parker. My current research focuses on the intersection between tobacco use and prescription opioid misuse in adolescents and young adults. At the end of my PhD experience, my ideal scenario would be to work at the government level, particularly at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). I would like to be able to make a difference through community programs as well as policy in order to reduce the amount of substance abuse disorders and associated overdose deaths.

Prospective Associations of Tobacco Use with Prescription Drug Misuse Among Young People

Harton, M.R.^a, Nguyen, I.^b, Evans-Polce, R.J.^c, and Parker, M.A.^a

^a Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.

^b Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.

^c Department of Health Behavior and Biological Sciences, School of Nursing, Ann Arbor, MI.

Purpose: The use of tobacco, especially cigarettes and e-cigarettes, remains a widespread problem among youth and young adults throughout the United States. Studies have showcased a link between tobacco use and prescription drug misuse. This study sought to provide further research on the prospective relationship between the use of cigarettes and/or e-cigarettes and prescription drug misuse among young people.

Methods: This investigation used restricted data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study, a national longitudinal study examining tobacco use among adolescents and adults in the U.S. We utilized data from Waves 1-5 participants between the ages of 12 and 24 (n=60,658). Using Cox proportional hazards models, we examined prospective associations of time-varying tobacco use (e.g., cigarette, e-cigarette) with prescription drug misuse (i.e., painkillers, tranquilizers, and/or sedatives) on individuals who did not misuse prescription drugs at baseline.

Results: Young people who smoked cigarettes only were 2.5 times more likely (95% CI: 2.0, 3.1) to misuse prescription drugs, while those who both smoked cigarettes and used e-cigarettes were 1.8 times more likely (95% CI:1.2, 2.5) to subsequently misuse prescription drugs compared to those who did not use tobacco. For individuals who only used e-cigarettes, there was no association with subsequent prescription drug misuse (Hazard ratio=1.0; 95% CI: 0.7, 1.4).

Conclusions: This study suggests that tobacco use in young people, particularly smoking cigarettes, may serve as an important indicator for future prescription drug misuse.

This work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products (R21DA051388) and Indiana University start-up funds (MAP).

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