Association of prescribed opioid use between mother and child – a record-linkage study

Abstract

Repeated use of prescribed opioids may lead to serious side effects, and it is important to examine risk factors for repeated use. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between maternal use of prescribed opioids and the use of prescribed opioids by their offspring. Data were drawn from two nationwide registers linked by the unique person identity numbers: the Norwegian Population and Housing Census in 2001 and the Norwegian Prescription Database (2004-2009). The study population consisted of 97,574 adolescents aged 15-16 years in 2001 and their mothers. Repeated use of opioids was defined as filling 4+ and 15+ prescriptions during 2004-2009 by the offspring and mothers, respectively. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are not potentially addictive, and were used as a reference analgesic drug group. The proportion of repeated users were higher among individuals whose mothers were registered with repeated use of opioids (8.4 %) compared to those with mothers without repeated use (2.4 %). Odds ratio was 3.1 (95% CI 2.7-3.6) when adjusted for mothers socioeconomic characteristics and the gender of the offspring. Low maternal socio-economic status increased the risk of repeated opioid use among their offspring. Maternal repeated use of NSAIDs increased the likelihood of repeated use of NSAIDs among offspring OR 1.8 (95% CI 1.7 – 2.0).