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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Reduce the proportion of people who misused a prescription pain reliever in the past year — SU‑19 Data

National Status: Little or no detectable change

  
Learn more about our data release schedule

Most Recent Data:
3.0 percent (2022)

National Target:
2.8 percent  1

Desired Direction:
Decrease desired

National Baseline:
3.2 percent of persons aged 12 years and over reported misuse of a prescription pain reliever in the past 12 months in 2021 2

Disparities data are only available for some selections.

View CI in the chart by hovering over a data point.

View SE in the chart by hovering over a data point.

Confidence Interval (CI) not available Standard Error (SE) not available Confidence Interval (CI) and Standard Error (SE) are not available

Display data for:

Persons with nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers in the past year, 2021-2022 ◊
(percent)
Decrease desired

Population 2021 2022
Total
3.2
CI 2.9 / 3.5
SE 0.144
3.0
CI 2.8 / 3.2
SE 0.115

Persons with nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers in the past year by Sex, 2021-2022 ◊
(percent)
Decrease desired

Population 2021 2022
Male
3.3
CI 2.9 / 3.7
SE 0.210
3.1
CI 2.8 / 3.5
SE 0.180
Female
3.1
CI 2.7 / 3.5
SE 0.195
2.9
CI 2.6 / 3.2
SE 0.148

Persons with nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers in the past year by Race/Ethnicity, 2021-2022 ◊
(percent)
Decrease desired

Population 2021 2022
American Indian or Alaska Native only
3.9
CI 2.4 / 6.4
SE 0.983
4.9
CI 3.4 / 7.1
SE 0.940
Asian only
2.2
CI 1.4 / 3.6
SE 0.555
1.4
CI 0.9 / 2.3
SE 0.332
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander only
5.2
CI 2.0 / 12.6
SE 2.430
3.2
CI 1.1 / 8.7
SE 1.669
Black or African American only
3.3
CI 2.7 / 4.1
SE 0.360
3.9
CI 3.2 / 4.7
SE 0.361
White only
3.1
CI 2.8 / 3.4
SE 0.163
2.9
CI 2.6 / 3.2
SE 0.131
2 or more races
6.1
CI 4.2 / 8.8
SE 1.164
4.4
CI 3.1 / 6.1
SE 0.761
Hispanic or Latino
3.1
CI 2.6 / 3.8
SE 0.315
3.3
CI 2.7 / 4.0
SE 0.315
Not Hispanic or Latino
3.2
CI 2.9 / 3.5
SE 0.164
2.9
CI 2.7 / 3.2
SE 0.122
American Indian or Alaska Native only, not Hispanic or Latino
5.2
CI 2.7 / 9.7
SE 1.692
5.1
CI 2.6 / 9.8
SE 1.745
Asian only, not Hispanic or Latino
2.2
CI 1.3 / 3.6
SE 0.557
1.4
CI 0.9 / 2.2
SE 0.333
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander only, not Hispanic or Latino
DSU
1.8
CI 0.6 / 5.1
SE 0.970
Black or African American only, not Hispanic or Latino
3.4
CI 2.8 / 4.3
SE 0.381
3.8
CI 3.1 / 4.6
SE 0.375
White only, not Hispanic or Latino
3.1
CI 2.7 / 3.5
SE 0.189
2.8
CI 2.6 / 3.1
SE 0.139
2 or more races, not Hispanic or Latino
6.5
CI 4.3 / 9.8
SE 1.383
4.4
CI 3.0 / 6.5
SE 0.874

Persons with nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers in the past year by Age group, 2021-2022 ◊
(percent)
Decrease desired

Population 2021 2022
12-17 years
2.1
CI 1.7 / 2.6
SE 0.240
1.6
CI 1.3 / 1.9
SE 0.144
18-44 years
4.0
CI 3.6 / 4.4
SE 0.203
3.8
CI 3.4 / 4.1
SE 0.178
18-24 years
3.0
CI 2.5 / 3.6
SE 0.272
3.2
CI 2.8 / 3.8
SE 0.249
25-44 years
4.3
CI 3.9 / 4.9
SE 0.250
3.9
CI 3.5 / 4.4
SE 0.225
45-64 years
3.3
CI 2.8 / 4.1
SE 0.329
3.2
CI 2.7 / 3.8
SE 0.261
45-54 years
3.6
CI 2.7 / 4.9
SE 0.539
3.4
CI 2.7 / 4.1
SE 0.350
55-64 years
3.1
CI 2.4 / 4.0
SE 0.397
3.1
CI 2.4 / 3.9
SE 0.376
65 years and over
1.7
CI 1.2 / 2.3
SE 0.271
1.7
CI 1.4 / 2.2
SE 0.226
65-74 years
2.0
CI 1.3 / 3.0
SE 0.419
1.9
CI 1.4 / 2.6
SE 0.286
75-84 years
0.9
CI 0.5 / 1.7
SE 0.280
1.1
CI 0.7 / 1.9
SE 0.295
85 years and over
2.2
CI 0.8 / 6.1
SE 1.160
2.8
CI 1.0 / 7.6
SE 1.448

Persons with nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers in the past year by Educational attainment (25 years and over), 2021-2022 ◊
(percent)
Decrease desired

Population 2021 2022
Less than High school
4.6
CI 3.5 / 5.9
SE 0.584
3.7
CI 2.8 / 4.8
SE 0.481
High school
3.7
CI 3.1 / 4.5
SE 0.335
3.4
CI 2.8 / 4.0
SE 0.293
Some college or Associate degree
3.7
CI 3.1 / 4.5
SE 0.358
3.9
CI 3.4 / 4.6
SE 0.315
4-year college degree or more
2.2
CI 1.8 / 2.8
SE 0.251
2.2
CI 1.9 / 2.5
SE 0.175

Persons with nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers in the past year by Family income (percent poverty threshold), 2021-2022 ◊
(percent)
Decrease desired

Population 2021 2022
<100
5.0
CI 4.1 / 6.0
SE 0.498
4.7
CI 4.0 / 5.5
SE 0.373
100-199
3.6
CI 3.0 / 4.3
SE 0.333
3.4
CI 2.9 / 4.0
SE 0.276
200-399
3.2
CI 2.6 / 3.8
SE 0.284
2.8
CI 2.4 / 3.3
SE 0.234
400+
2.2
CI 1.9 / 2.5
SE 0.172
2.3
CI 2.0 / 2.6
SE 0.163

Persons with nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers in the past year by Health insurance status (12-64 years), 2021-2022 ◊
(percent)
Decrease desired

Population 2021 2022
Insured
3.5
CI 3.1 / 3.8
SE 0.174
3.3
CI 3.0 / 3.6
SE 0.139
Private
2.6
CI 2.2 / 2.9
SE 0.185
2.5
CI 2.2 / 2.8
SE 0.141
Public
5.2
CI 4.5 / 5.9
SE 0.346
4.8
CI 4.3 / 5.5
SE 0.301
Uninsured
4.2
CI 3.4 / 5.3
SE 0.483
3.6
CI 2.8 / 4.6
SE 0.445

Persons with nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers in the past year by Geographic location, 2021-2022 ◊
(percent)
Decrease desired

Population 2021 2022
Metropolitan
3.2
CI 2.9 / 3.5
SE 0.157
3.0
CI 2.8 / 3.3
SE 0.127
Non-metropolitan
3.3
CI 2.5 / 4.1
SE 0.404
2.9
CI 2.4 / 3.5
SE 0.263

Persons with nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers in the past year by Marital status (18 years and over), 2021-2022 ◊
(percent)
Decrease desired

Population 2021 2022
Married/​Cohabiting partner
2.7
CI 2.3 / 3.1
SE 0.194
2.8
CI 2.5 / 3.1
SE 0.159
Divorced, separated, widowed
4.0
CI 3.2 / 5.1
SE 0.459
3.3
CI 2.7 / 4.0
SE 0.316
Never married
4.1
CI 3.5 / 4.7
SE 0.317
4.0
CI 3.5 / 4.5
SE 0.268

Persons with nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers in the past year by Country of birth, 2021-2022 ◊
(percent)
Decrease desired

Population 2021 2022
US
3.3
CI 3.0 / 3.6
SE 0.160
3.1
CI 2.9 / 3.3
SE 0.119
Outside US
2.4
CI 1.9 / 3.0
SE 0.293
2.5
CI 1.9 / 3.3
SE 0.360

Persons with nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers in the past year by Veteran status (20 years and over), 2021-2022 ◊
(percent)
Decrease desired

Population 2021 2022
Veteran
2.2
CI 1.5 / 3.2
SE 0.422
2.1
CI 1.5 / 3.0
SE 0.376
Non-veteran
3.4
CI 3.1 / 3.8
SE 0.172
3.2
CI 3.0 / 3.5
SE 0.138

Persons with nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers in the past year by Disability status, 2021-2022 ◊
(percent)
Decrease desired

Population 2021 2022
People with disabilities
6.9
CI 5.7 / 8.3
SE 0.671
6.3
CI 5.4 / 7.5
SE 0.532
People without disabilities
2.6
CI 2.3 / 2.8
SE 0.139
2.4
CI 2.2 / 2.7
SE 0.108

Persons with nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers in the past year by Sexual orientation (18 years and over), 2021-2022 ◊
(percent)
Decrease desired

Population 2021 2022
Straight
2.9
CI 2.6 / 3.3
SE 0.167
2.8
CI 2.5 / 3.0
SE 0.127
Straight, Male
3.2
CI 2.7 / 3.7
SE 0.241
3.0
CI 2.6 / 3.4
SE 0.200
Straight, Female
2.6
CI 2.2 / 3.1
SE 0.218
2.5
CI 2.2 / 2.9
SE 0.166
Gay/​Lesbian
7.0
CI 4.3 / 11.2
SE 1.712
3.4
CI 2.3 / 5.0
SE 0.682
Gay, Male
6.9
CI 3.4 / 13.5
SE 2.423
3.5
CI 2.0 / 6.1
SE 1.007
Gay/​Lesbian, Female
7.2
CI 3.7 / 13.3
SE 2.329
3.3
CI 2.0 / 5.4
SE 0.840
Bisexual
6.0
CI 4.8 / 7.5
SE 0.686
7.2
CI 5.8 / 8.8
SE 0.764
Bisexual, Male
4.8
CI 2.9 / 7.6
SE 1.161
7.2
CI 4.5 / 11.5
SE 1.737
Bisexual, Female
6.5
CI 5.0 / 8.4
SE 0.855
7.2
CI 5.8 / 8.8
SE 0.756

Persons with nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers in the past year by Gender identity, 2021-2022 ◊
(percent)
Decrease desired

Population 2021 2022
Gender identity
DNC
DNC

Disparity