Prevalence and description of kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) use in the United States: A cross-sectional study
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Mitragyna speciosa ("kratom") contains mu opioid partial agonists. It is widely available, and occasionally used as a home remedy for opioid use disorder. The Drug Enforcement Agency considers kratom a Drug of Concern; however, prevalence of use and role in drug misuse are unknown. This study aimed to characterize kratom use in the United States (U.S.).
DESIGN
Cross-sectional Survey of Non-Medical Use of Prescription Drugs (NMURx) Program, 2018 3rd quarter and 2019 1st quarter.
SETTING
A validated non-probability online survey in the U.S.
PARTICIPANTS
A total of 59,714 respondents 18 years or older, weighted to represent the adult U.S. population (N=252,063,800).
MEASUREMENTS
In addition to prevalence of past-year kratom and other drug use, behavior proportions were estimated. The Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10) estimated consequences of drug abuse.
FINDINGS
Estimated prevalence of past-year kratom use in the adult U.S. population was 0.8% (95% CI 0.7-0.9), representing 2,031,803 adults. Lifetime prevalence was 1.3% (95% CI 1.2-1.4), representing 3,353,624 adults. Kratom users were younger (mean 35 years, p<0.001), with higher proportions of males (61.0 vs. 48.6%, p<0.001), students (14.1 vs. 7.5%, p<0.001), and healthcare professionals (9.7 vs. 4.5%, p<0.001), and fewer bachelor's/advanced degree graduates (33.4 vs. 42.6%, p<0.001), compared with non-users. Results were inconclusive on whether there was a difference in kratom use by race, household…
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