Oxycodone abuse in Texas, 1998-2004

Oxycodone is frequently abused, and this abuse appears to be increasing. The purpose of this study was to describe the patterns of oxycodone abuse identified by Texas poison control centers. All oxycodone calls received by Texas poison control centers during 1998-2004 were identified. Annual trends and geographic distributions were determined for drug identification (ID) calls and abuse calls. The distribution of abuse calls was then compared to the distribution of all other types of human exposure calls for a variety of factors. Both drug ID and abuse calls involving oxycodone increased over the 7-yr period. The numbers of abuse calls were higher than expected in the central part of Texas, while drug ID calls were higher than expected in eastern and central Texas. A higher proportion of oxycodone abuse than other types of oxycodone exposures involved males, adolescents, exposures at other residences and public areas, referral by the poison control center to a health care facility, and some sort of clinical effect. Oxycodone abuse calls in Texas are increasing. The proportion of calls varies by geographic region. Oxycodone abuse calls differ from other types of exposures with respect to both demographic factors and clinical management and outcome.