There is a growing need to focus on over-the-counter (OTC) medication misuse. In the article Intentional Misuse of Over-the-Counter Medications, Mental Health, and Polysubstance Use in Young Adults, the study states “OTC-related emergency room visits increased 70% from 2004 to 2008” (Benotsch et al., 2013). The study further examines the growing problem of misuse of OTC medications and the growing trend of young adults endangering their health with polysubstance abuse. This study is the first to provide extensive analysis of OTC drug misuse and how it relates to non-medical use of prescription drugs and other illicit drug use (Benotsch et al., 2013). Two studies were conducted in different areas of the United States surveying young adults
…show more content…
The first study examined 430 young adults with a mean age of 20.5 years in Colorado (Benotsch et al., 2013). The Colorado study yielded 18.6% of young adults admitting to lifetime use of OTC drugs in ways that were unintended by the manufacturer (Benotsch et al., 2013). The Colorado surveys revealed that the most common OTC drug misused was cough syrup and the most common motivators were used as a sleep aid and to get high (Benotsch et al., 2013). The demographic groups that were more likely to misuse OTC drugs were men and white participants (Benotsch et al., 2013). The second study was conducted in Virginia with a sample group of 767 young adults with the mean age of 18.9 years (Benotsch et al., 2013). In total, 13% of the Virginia participants admitted lifetime misuse of OTC medications and similar results were found for type of drugs misused, motivating factors, and demographic groups (Benotsch et al., 2013). The Virginia …show more content…
The nurses in the fields of addiction, psychology, pediatrics, emergency care, and education should be made more aware of the growing problem of OTC misuse. Nurses should be performing more careful screening involving mental health, past medical history, and potential sign and symptoms of combined OTC drugs and alcohol or other drugs. Benotsch et al. concludes that combining OTC drugs with alcohol or other prescription or illicit drugs may cause “dizziness, tachycardia, impaired motor coordination, hallucinations, liver damage, respiratory depression, seizures, coma, and death” (2013). Nurses should be made aware of this new trend in specific demographic groups and should conduct their assessments, diagnosis, and interventions accordingly to appropriately care for individuals abusing OTC drugs. The FDA has considered requiring a prescription for certain OTC medications such as cough medications containing DXM, dextromethorphan, a cough suppressant (Benotsch et al., 2013). If the FDA decided to change some OTC drugs to requiring a prescription, this would impact the nursing process by causing people to seek healthcare more frequently. Nurses would have to the ability to assess for signs of drug abuse that may have gone unnoticed if still offered easy accessibility that comes with over-the-counter
The first study examined 430 young adults with a mean age of 20.5 years in Colorado (Benotsch et al., 2013). The Colorado study yielded 18.6% of young adults admitting to lifetime use of OTC drugs in ways that were unintended by the manufacturer (Benotsch et al., 2013). The Colorado surveys revealed that the most common OTC drug misused was cough syrup and the most common motivators were used as a sleep aid and to get high (Benotsch et al., 2013). The demographic groups that were more likely to misuse OTC drugs were men and white participants (Benotsch et al., 2013). The second study was conducted in Virginia with a sample group of 767 young adults with the mean age of 18.9 years (Benotsch et al., 2013). In total, 13% of the Virginia participants admitted lifetime misuse of OTC medications and similar results were found for type of drugs misused, motivating factors, and demographic groups (Benotsch et al., 2013). The Virginia …show more content…
The nurses in the fields of addiction, psychology, pediatrics, emergency care, and education should be made more aware of the growing problem of OTC misuse. Nurses should be performing more careful screening involving mental health, past medical history, and potential sign and symptoms of combined OTC drugs and alcohol or other drugs. Benotsch et al. concludes that combining OTC drugs with alcohol or other prescription or illicit drugs may cause “dizziness, tachycardia, impaired motor coordination, hallucinations, liver damage, respiratory depression, seizures, coma, and death” (2013). Nurses should be made aware of this new trend in specific demographic groups and should conduct their assessments, diagnosis, and interventions accordingly to appropriately care for individuals abusing OTC drugs. The FDA has considered requiring a prescription for certain OTC medications such as cough medications containing DXM, dextromethorphan, a cough suppressant (Benotsch et al., 2013). If the FDA decided to change some OTC drugs to requiring a prescription, this would impact the nursing process by causing people to seek healthcare more frequently. Nurses would have to the ability to assess for signs of drug abuse that may have gone unnoticed if still offered easy accessibility that comes with over-the-counter