Inhalant use and disorders among adults in the United States.
Abstract
To examine the patterns of adult inhalant use and correlates of inhalant use disorder.We
drew study data from the 2002 and 2003 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).
We used logistic regression to identify the characteristics associated both with inhalant
use and inhalant use disorder.One in 10 of all adults had used an inhalant at least
once in their lives, and 0.5% used one in the past year. Among all past year inhalant
users, 8% met the criteria for an inhalant use disorder (i.e., 6.6% for abuse and
1.1% for dependence) within that period. We found an increased prevalence of past
year inhalant use among young adults aged 18-25 years, Asians, past year alcohol abusers
and dependents, lifetime drug users, white women, and men reporting symptoms of serious
mental illness. Inhalant-using adults who met the criteria for an inhalant use disorder
were predominantly adults aged 35-49 years and were less educated, had received recent
professional treatment for emotional or psychological problems, used inhalants weekly,
and had a coexisting alcohol use disorder.The patterns and consequences of adult inhalant
use differ from those of adolescents. Compared with adolescent inhalant users, adult
users tend not to initiate inhalant use until adulthood, use inhalants less frequently,
use fewer inhalants, and are less likely to engage in criminal activities.
Type
Journal articleSubject
HumansSubstance-Related Disorders
Administration, Inhalation
Prevalence
Demography
Sex Distribution
Adolescent
Adult
Middle Aged
United States
Female
Male
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/20042Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2006.01.017Publication Info
Wu, Li-Tzy; & Ringwalt, Christopher L (2006). Inhalant use and disorders among adults in the United States. Drug and alcohol dependence, 85(1). pp. 1-11. 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2006.01.017. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/20042.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Li-Tzy Wu
Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Education/Training: Pre- and post-doctoral training in mental health service research,
psychiatric epidemiology (NIMH T32), and addiction epidemiology (NIDA T32) from Johns
Hopkins University School of Public Health (Maryland); Fellow of the NIH Summer Institute
on the Design and Conduct of Randomized Clinical Trials.Director: Duke Community Based
Substance Use Disorder Research Program.Research interests: COVID-19, Opioid misuse,
Opioid overdose, Opioid use disorder

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