A Comparison of Opioid Using Women Attending High Risk Prenatal Clinic versus a Regular OB Clinic

According to the 2015 National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) [1], when interviewed about their drug use during the past year, 0.4% (155,000) women between the ages of 18 to 25 identified having a heroin use disorder. These findings are similar to data reported from 2008-2014. Other NSDUH findings report that 1.2% (427,000) women age 18-25 identified an opioid prescription drug use disorder. Even more alarming is that among pregnant women, 0.9% reported using opioids during the past 30 days during 2015. The 2007-2012 findings from the NSDUH indicate that past month opioid misuse was more common among younger groups (15-17 years=2.8%, 18-25=1.5%, and 2634=0.5%). This is a significant problem because each of these groups includes women of childbearing age. Because these data are self-reported, they may be lower than actual amounts [2].