Chronic opioid use may elevate risk of suicide amongst children of parents who use these drugs

A pharmacoepidemiological study has recently compared rates of suicide attempts in children of parents who used opioids for more than one years with a matched set of families in which parents did not use opioids. The study was conducted from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2016, linking medical claims for parental opioid prescriptions with medical claims for suicide attempts by their children, drawing data from 150 million privately insured people in the United States. The study addressed 148 395 children (mean age 11.5 years) who parents who did not use opioids and 184 142 children (mean age 11.8 years) with parents who did use opioids. Of children with parents who did not use opioids, 212 (0.14%) attempted suicide; whereas of the children with parents who did use opioids, 678 (0.37%) attempted suicide. Parental use of opioids was associated with a doubling of the risk of a suicide attempt by their children (odds ratio 1.99; 95% CI, 1.71-2.33)> The odds remained higher even after adjustment for child and parental depression and diagnoses of substance use disorder, or parental history of suicide attempt. The researchers point out that this data suggests that care provided to families with a parent who uses opioids should include mental health screening of their children. Read more here