According to a survey funded by the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD), 20.6% of teens reported loaning drugs, most commonly pain relievers and allergy medications, and 19.4% reported borrowing them. Girls were almost twice as likely to give away prescription medications than boys (27.5% of girls, compared to 17.4% for boys).

Information for the study was gathered in malls, parks and public streets, in eleven urban and suburban locations in the United States. Researchers obtained data from 594 teens—289 male and 305 female—ages 12-17.

“Prior to our study, no one had asked adolescents how often they shared prescription medications,” said lead author Richard Goldworthy, Ph.D., director for research and development at Academic Edge, Inc.

Researchers first asked participants whether or not they had ever loaned or borrowed prescription medications. Those who responded positively were then asked what type(s) of drugs were borrowed, whether they gave or received written or verbal instructions, and whether or not they had shared to avoid a doctor’s visit—74% of borrowers said yes.

Of the 86 teens trying to steer clear of the doctor’s office, 32.4% ended up going anyway when the problem persisted. Herein lies the danger: 43 of them reported experiencing an allergic reaction or other side effect, but less than half of borrowers (about 40%) reported telling their doctors they had used the medication.

Drug sharing has a number of negative consequences. Conditions often worsen when not taken care of in a timely manner, and using medications improperly only increases the danger. Sharing antibiotics, for example, unnecessarily increases bacterial resistance to treatment.

“Other researchers have studied people selling prescription drugs,” said co-author Chris Mayhorn, an associate professor in the Human Factors and Ergonomics Psychology Program at North Carolina State University. “ but we looked at people with good intentions, trying, for instance, to help a friend who lacked money or transportation.”

Taking a friend’s acne medication may seem innocent to a teen, however, drugs such as Accutane increase risk of depression and can cause serious birth defects in he event of an unplanned pregnancy.

The study has provided a greater incentive to boost educational programs, pushing efforts to reduce the growing drug sharing problem by training both patients and providers about proper drug use.

Melissa Haddow, executive director of the Community Partnership of the Ozarks, says, "This work highlights the diversity of medications being abused this way, which had not been recognized (before)."

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