Recent trends in treatment admissions for prescription opioid abuse during pregnancy

Prescription opioid abuse is a significant and costly public health problem among pregnant women in the United States. We investigated recent trends in substance abuse treatment admissions for prescription opioids during pregnancy using the Treatment Episodes Data Set. From 1992 to 2012 the overall proportion of pregnant admissions remained stable at 4%; however, admissions of pregnant women reporting prescription opioid abuse increased substantially from 2% to 28% especially in the south. Demographic characteristics of pregnant opioid admissions changed from 1992 to 2012 with younger, unmarried White non-Hispanic women, criminal justice referrals, and those with a psychiatric co-morbidity becoming more common (p < 0.01). About a third received medication assisted therapy despite this being the standard of care for opioid abuse in pregnancy. While substance abuse treatment centers have increased treatment volume to address the increase in prescription opioid dependence among pregnant women, targeting certain risk groups and increasing utilization of medication assisted therapy should be emphasized.