• Esther K Choo, Carole Douriez, and Traci Green.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School, Providence, RI; School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, RI.
• Acad Emerg Med. 2014 Dec 1;21(12):1493-8.

ObjectivesTo the best of the authors' knowledge, gender differences in nonmedical opioid presentations to the emergency department (ED) have not been studied. The objective was to explore gender differences in ED visits related to nonmedical prescription opioid use in a nationally representative sample.MethodsData from the 2011 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) were analyzed to compare visit characteristics between women and men. Logistic regression models were developed to examine the association between gender and specific drug presentations and clinical outcomes.ResultsThere were an estimated 426,010 DAWN-defined visits involving prescription opioid use in 2011. The prevalence of drugs in opioid-involved visits was similar between women and men. Ingestion of another drug along with opioids was associated with increased odds of hospital admission for both women and men, and types of opioids ingested were similar between women and men. However, gender differences were noted in clinical outcomes, depending on the specific drug combination.ConclusionsGender differences exist in ED presentations related to prescription opioids. Further research is needed to understand these differences and any implications for gender-specific emergency care and brief interventions.© 2014 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

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