Social determinants of nonmedical sedative and opioid use among U.S. Latinos
Article
Rojas, P, Wang, W, Cabrera Tineo, YA et al. (2026). Social determinants of nonmedical sedative and opioid use among U.S. Latinos
. PLOS ONE, 21(8), e0354367. 10.1371/journal.pone.0354367
Rojas, P, Wang, W, Cabrera Tineo, YA et al. (2026). Social determinants of nonmedical sedative and opioid use among U.S. Latinos
. PLOS ONE, 21(8), e0354367. 10.1371/journal.pone.0354367
The non-medical use of sedatives and prescription opioids is a growing public health concern, particularly among Latino populations. This study aim was to identify individual and social determinants associated with non-medical use of sedatives and prescription opioids among Latinos in the United States. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using the National Institute of Health All of Us Dataset. The sample included 22,457 Hispanic/Latino adults with complete data. The main outcomes were lifetime street opioids use, and past 3-month non-medical use of sedatives and prescription opioids. Independent variables included depression, discrimination, education, income, nativity, and language spoken at home. The non-medical use of sedatives and opioids in the past 3 months was low (0.4% sedatives, 0.2% opioids). Older age, being male, and reporting depression, discrimination, and neighborhood disorder were associated with increased odds of opioids use. Higher education, income, foreign-born status, and non-English language spoken at home were protective factors. Findings highlight the need for culturally tailored interventions targeting high-risk adult Latino subgroups to address opioid and non-medical use of sedatives disparities.
