Association between employment and drug abuse among young adults:

1. Association between employment and drug abuse among young adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001-2004 Alberto J. Caban-Martinez, Manuel A. Ocasio, Tainya C. Clarke, John D. Clark III, and Diana Kachan Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA This work was funded in part by the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Fellowship F30ES015969 (PI: Clark); and the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health R01 0H03915 (PI Lee/Fleming). Contact: Alberto Caban-Martinez | Email: acaban@med.miami.edu Introduction: Harmful substance use patterns among young adults that are established before or during employment represent an important public health concern. The social, economic, and health consequences of illicit drug abuse may persist not only into their young adult life, but may carry forward into their professional life. We examine the association between employment status, occupation type and drug use among U.S. young adults. Methods: We analyzed pooled data on 1,009 U.S. young adults (representing an annual 5,119,332 young people) age 20-25 participating in the 2001-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, who reported on their lifetime use of cocaine or street drugs, employment status, occupation type, and socio-demographic characteristics. Results: The overall lifetime prevalence of cocaine or street drug use among U.S. young adults was 21.7%±3.4; highest among males (12.7±1.9), non-Hispanic whites (13.7±2.9), those with a high school diploma or GED (7.9±1.4), unmarried (13.7±2.6), those with an annual household income of less than $20,000 (8.1±2.5); those employed as blue-collar workers (8.1±1.8, and those with a job (14.7±3.1). Among employed young adults, those in Construction trade (3.7±1.2) and Health service occupations (2.3±1.4) had the highest proportion of workers reporting a high lifetime prevalence of cocaine or street drug use. Employed young adults were significantly more likely 1.32 [1.01-1.98] (adjusted odds ratio [95% Confidence Interval]) to report a lifetime use of cocaine or street drugs even after controlling for gender, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, and annual household income as compared to unemployed young adults. Conclusions: Knowledge of rates of substance use among both employed and unemployed young adults will offer support towards building better prevention programs for younger members of the workforce, thereby offering protection against continued or accelerated use and abuse. The workplace may be a useful venue in which to target tailored drug abuse educational interventions at high risk employed young adults. Abstract epidemiological studies in the last decade, up to 50% of adolescents have used cannabis at least once Epidemiological studies, suggest that up to 50% of U.S. adolescents have used cocaine or street drugs at least once during their life-time. Longitudinal studies that have examined risk and vulnerability factors for onset of cocaine and street drug use, have also identified potential negative consequences of regular drug use, abuseand dependence. Employment experiences in young adulthood often forecast later occupational attainment patterns, therefore understanding factors associated with job type and drug use remains of major public health importance. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is a population-based health survey of non-institutionalized U.S. residents conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention NHANES uses a complex, multistage probability sampling design, with oversampling of minority populations. All participants completed household surveys conducted by trained study staff that included questions on demographics and health history. Data obtained from 1,009 young U.S. adults age 20-25 years old participating in the 2001-2004 NHANES, who reported on their lifetime use of cocaine or street drugs (using computer-assisted [CASI] technology), employment status, occupation type, and socio-demographic characteristics. Analyses completed with the PASW Statistics 18 and PASW Complex Sample package (IBM, Inc.) to take into account sample weights, design effects and aggregation of data over multiple survey years. INTRODUCTION METHODS Examine the association between employment status, occupation type and drug use among U.S. young adults. Describe the lifetime prevalence of cocaine or street drug use among U.S. young adults. List, in rank order, young adult occupations that report high levels of cocaine or street drug use. OBJECTIVE Lifetime prevalence of cocaine or street drug use among U.S. young adults was 21.7% ± 3.4. Among employed young adults, those in Construction trade (3.7±1.2) and Health service occupations (2.3±1.4) reported the highest proportion of workers with drug use. Employed young adults were significantly more likely 1.32 [1.01-1.98] to report a lifetime use of drug use compared to those unemployed. Knowledge of rates of substance use among both employed and unemployed young adults will offer support towards building better prevention programs for younger personnel, thereby offering protection against continued or accelerated use and abuse. The workplace may be a useful venue in which to target tailored drug abuse educational interventions at high risk employed young adults. RESULTS CONCLUSIONS