Pitt Researchers Analyze Patterns of Prescribed Opioid Misuse
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By: Colleen Zewe
Dr. Thomas Songer, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, discusses his research on the opioid epidemic. His goal is to find a pattern or common trait among those who start out needing prescribed opioids, but then eventually need hospitalization for misusing them. This research will help policymakers develop legislation to stop that pattern from occurring in the future.
Western Pennsylvania is in the midst of a drug overdose epidemic, prompting the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health to create a pilot grant project that funds several studies exploring different aspects of the problem.
This post is part of a blog series entitled “The Opioid Epidemic,” a collaboration between UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences highlighting the doctors, researchers and nurses making significant efforts to reduce diversion and misuse of prescription opioids. For more information about the series or resources to help with drug addiction, click here.
