Parents, Pain, and Over-the-Counter Medicine: Athletes’ Perceived Alternatives to Prescription Opioid Misuse

Abstract

Youth athletes are often prescribed opioids after sustaining sport-related injuries, and because of their age, warrior-like culture in sport, and the desire to perform at the highest level, they are at risk for opioid misuse. Due to the nature of sport, youth athletes are at a greater risk to misuse opioids, and although it does not always predict misuse in adults, it is almost always a precursor among those addicted to opioids in adulthood. This crisis has been classified by the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an epidemic, resulting in over a hundred deaths a day and has cost over a billion dollars. To better understand athletes’ experiences and use of opioids, the current study uses in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 35 current athletes and highlights their lived experiences with opioid use. Qualitative, line-by-line coding revealed three main themes: the protective role of parents, the teaching potential of athletes’ own pain, and the easy access to over-the-counter medication and supplements that allow athletes to address their pain or enhance their performance. The results highlight that youth athletes may not misuse opioids to the extent previously predicted by past research and provide insight into the opioid epidemic from a youth sporting perspective.