Adolescent health brief
Kratom Use Among U.S. Adolescents: Analyses of the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.10.009Get rights and content

Abstract

Background

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) is an opioid-like psychoactive substance not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that could be used due to its euphoric, stimulant, and analgesic effects. Kratom is gaining popularity in the U.S. and becoming a reason of concern among pediatricians.

Methods

Data from the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health were analyzed to estimate the prevalence and identify correlates of lifetime and past 12-month kratom use among 13,397 U.S. adolescents. Multivariable logistic regression models were conducted to assess the associations of interest.

Results

Lifetime and past 12-month prevalence of kratom use was .44% (95% confidence interval [CI] .32–.60) and .27% (95% CI .18–.40), respectively. Past 12-month cigarette use was associated with lifetime kratom use (adjusted odds ratio 2.60, 95% CI 1.07–6.35). Past 12-month cannabis use was associated with past 12-month kratom use (adjusted odds ratio 2.48, 95% CI 1.15–5.35).

Conclusions

This first report on the epidemiology of adolescent kratom use provides a baseline to assess kratom use trends in future years and identify potential correlates of use among adolescents.

Section snippets

Methods

We analyzed the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), a series of yearly cross-sectional surveys designated to yield a representative sample of all U.S. noninstitutionalized individuals aged 12 years and above. The first time that the NSDUH survey included questions about kratom use was in 2019. Our nationally representative sample consisted of 13,397 adolescents aged 12–17 years. Approximately 1.9% of the total adolescent respondents had missing data on kratom use. A more

Sample description

Approximately half (50.9%) of the sample were males (Table 1). Almost a quarter (21.6%) had used alcohol in the past 12 months, 5.5% had used cigarette in the past 12 months, 13.5% had used cannabis in the past 12 months, 2.3% reported nonmedical use of pain relievers in the past 12 months, and 1.8% reported use of any stimulants in the past 12 months.

Kratom use and correlates

The lifetime prevalence of kratom use among this adolescent sample was .44% (95% CI .32–.60). Compared to adolescents who did not use cigarettes

Discussion

In 2019, approximately 68,000 adolescents in the U.S. used kratom. Prevalence estimates of lifetime and past 12-month kratom use among this representative sample of U.S. adolescents were about a third the prevalence observed among a nonprobabilistic sample of U.S. adults [11], and substantially lower than comparable estimates for lifetime kratom use (3.4%) among adolescents in Thailand, where kratom has been used historically [19]. In relation to use of other drugs for the same age group, in

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse T32 training grant at the UF Substance Abuse Training Center in Public Health from the National Institutes of Health (T32DA035167, Cottler, PI) and Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01DA046715, Lopez-Quintero, PI). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The corresponding author affirms that everyone who

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  • Cited by (3)

    • Kratom availability in California vape shops

      2023, Preventive Medicine Reports

    Conflicts of interest: All authors have agreed to the content and submission and have no conflicts of interest.

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