Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Prevalence and correlates of illicit and non-medical use of psychotropic drugs in Japan

Findings from the World Mental Health Japan Survey 2002–2004

  • ORIGINAL PAPER
  • Published:
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To describe the prevalence of illicit and non-medical use of drugs, the age of first use, and their correlates in the general population of Japan, based on data collected between 2002 and 2004 as part of the World Mental Health (WMH) surveys.

Methods

Participants included were a subsample (n = 887) of the total 2,436 Japanese-speaking respondents aged ≥20 years, randomly sampled from residents in seven cities/municipalities in Japan. Face-to-face household surveys were conducted using the Japanese version of the fully structured WHO WMH Survey Initiative version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview.

Results

Lifetime prevalence of marijuana and cocaine use, non-medical use of prescribed drugs such as tranquilizers, stimulants and analgesics, and use of other substances was 1.5, 0.3, 6.4 and 2.4%, respectively. Lifetime use of marijuana was significantly greater among men. Prescription drug abuse/misuse was significantly more common among the middle-aged (35–49 years) group and those who were married/cohabitating. The 12-month prevalence of marijuana and non-medical use was 0.3 and 1.9%, respectively. Age of first use was likely to be early adulthood. Non-medical use was significantly related to mood disorder, anxiety disorder, intermittent explosive disorder and alcohol abuse/dependence.

Conclusions

The present study confirmed lower prevalence of drug use in Japan than in other countries, such as the United States. However, the non-medical use of psychotropic drugs seems more common in Japan.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Aguilar-Gaxiola S, Medina-Mora ME, Magaña CG et al (2006) Illicit drug use research in Latin America: epidemiology, service use, and HIV. Drug Alcohol Depend 84S:S85–S93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edn (DSM-IV). American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  3. Compton WM, Volkow ND (2006) Abuse of prescription drugs and the risk of addiction. Drug Alcohol Depend 83S:S4–S7

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Degenhardt L, Chiu WT, Sampson N, Kessler RC, Anthony JC (2007) Epidemiological patterns of extra-medical drug use in the United States: evidence from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, 2001–2003. Drug Alcohol Depend 90: 210–223

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Degenhardt L, Chiu WT, Sampson N et al (2008) Toward a global view of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and cocaine use: findings from the WHO World Mental Health Surveys. PLoS Med 5:e141

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Fukui S (1999) Epidemiology of antianxiety and tranquilizing agent dependence in Japan. Nihon Shinkei Seishin Yakurigaku Zasshi 19:209–213 (in Japanese)

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Grinshpoon A, Marom E, Weizman A, Ponizovsky AM (2007) Psychotropic drug use in Israel: results from the National Health Survey. Prim Care Companion J Clin Psychiatry 9: 356–363

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Gureje O, Degenhardt L, Olley B et al (2007) A descriptive epidemiology of substance use and substance use disorders in Nigeria during the early 21st century. Drug Alcohol Depend 91:1–9

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Huang B, Dawson DA, Stinson FS et al (2006) Prevalence, correlates, and comorbidity of nonmedical prescription drug use and drug use disorders in the United States: results of the National Epidemiologic Survey on alcohol and related conditions. J Clin Psychiatry 67:1062–1073

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Kawakami N, Takeshima T, Ono Y et al (2005) Twelve-month prevalence, severity, and treatment of common mental disorders in communities in Japan: preliminary finding from the World Mental Health Japan Survey 2002–2003. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 59:441–452

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Kessler RC, Ustun TB (2004) The World Mental Health (WMH) survey initiative version of the World Health Organization (WHO) Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 13:93–121

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Medina-Mora ME, Borges G, Fleiz C et al (2006) Prevalence and correlates of drug use disorders in Mexico. Pan Am J Public Health 19:265–276

    Google Scholar 

  13. Merikangas KR, Mehta RL, Molnar BE et al (1998) Comorbidity of substance use disorders with mood and anxiety disorders: results of the International Consortium in Psychiatric Epidemiology. Addict Behav 23:893–907

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Ozaki S (1999) Current status of abuse and dependence on medications at psychiatric facilities. Nihon Shinkei Seishin Yakurigaku Zasshi 19:195–198 (in Japanese)

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Proctor BD, Dalaker J (2002) Current population reports. Poverty in the United States: 2001. US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  16. Research Triangle Institute (2002) SUDAAN: professional software for survey data analysis, version 8.0.1. Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

    Google Scholar 

  17. Wada K, Kikuchi A, Nakano R, Ozaki S (2004) Current situation on drug abuse in Japan: using a general population survey and a junior high school students survey. Nihon Arukoru Yakubutsu Igakkai Zasshi 39:28–34 (in Japanese)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. WHO World Mental Health Survey Consortium (2004) Prevalence, severity, and unmet need for treatment of mental disorders in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. JAMA 291:2581–2590

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Wolter KM (1985) Introduction to variance estimation. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  20. World Health Organization (1993) The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders: diagnostic criteria for research. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  21. World Health Organization (2005) Mental Health Atlas 2005. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  22. Yamamoto J (2004) Recent trends of drug abuse in Japan. Ann NY Acad Sci 1025:430–438

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

WMH-J is supported by the Grant for Research on Psychiatric and Neurological Diseases and Mental Health (H13-Shogai-023, H14-Tokubetsu-026, H16-Kokoro-013) from the Japan Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare. We would like to thank staff members, field coordinators, and interviewers of the WMH-J 2002–2004 Survey. The WMH-J 2002–2004 Survey was carried out in conjunction with the WHO WMH Survey Initiative. We also thank the WMH staff for assistance with instrumentation, fieldwork and data analysis. These activities were supported by the US National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH070884), the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Pfizer Foundation, the US Public Health Service (R13-MH066849, R01-MH069864, and R01 DA016558), the Fogarty International Center (FIRCA R01-TW006481), the Pan American Health Organization, Eli Lilly and Company, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. A complete list of WMH publications can be found at http://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/wmh/.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Mental Health, Tokyo University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

    Mayumi Tominaga MS & Norito Kawakami MD

  2. Health Center, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan

    Yutaka Ono MD

  3. Division of Human Sociology, Nagasaki International University Graduate School, Nagasaki, Japan

    Yoshibumi Nakane MD

  4. Dept. of Public Health, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi, Japan

    Yoshikazu Nakamura MD, MPH, FFPH, Makoto Watanabe MD, PhD & Masayo Kobayashi MD

  5. National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan

    Hisateru Tachimori PhD, Yoichi Naganuma PSW, PhD, Yuko Miyake PhD & Tadashi Takeshima MD

  6. Dept. of Clinical Psychology, Hiroshima International University, Hiroshima, Japan

    Noboru Iwata PhD

  7. Health, Social Welfare, and Environmental Dept., Osumi Regional Promotion Bureau, Kagoshima, Japan

    Hidenori Uda MD

  8. Division of Neuropsychiatry, Dept. of Translational Medical Sciences, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan

    Hideyuki Nakane MD

  9. Dept. of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Aichi, Japan

    Toshiaki A. Furukawa MD

  10. Dept. of Psychiatry, Field of Social and Behavioral Medicine, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan

    Yukihiro Hata MD

  11. Dept. of Human Well-being, Chubu Gakuin University, Gifu, Japan

    Takehiko Kikkawa MD

Authors
  1. Mayumi Tominaga MS
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Norito Kawakami MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yutaka Ono MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yoshibumi Nakane MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yoshikazu Nakamura MD, MPH, FFPH
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Hisateru Tachimori PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Noboru Iwata PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Hidenori Uda MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Hideyuki Nakane MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Makoto Watanabe MD, PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Yoichi Naganuma PSW, PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Toshiaki A. Furukawa MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Yukihiro Hata MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Masayo Kobayashi MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. Yuko Miyake PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  16. Tadashi Takeshima MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  17. Takehiko Kikkawa MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mayumi Tominaga MS.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tominaga, M., Kawakami, N., Ono, Y. et al. Prevalence and correlates of illicit and non-medical use of psychotropic drugs in Japan. Soc Psychiat Epidemiol 44, 777–783 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-009-0499-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-009-0499-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation