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Non-Dependent Opioid Misusers as Controls for a Genome-Wide Association Study

The Non-Dependent Opioid Misusers as GWAS Controls (i.e., the Opioid Misuse Study) is a genetic association study that was designed to compare adults with limited (<60 times lifetime) opioid misuse (i.e., non-medical use) to those with an extensive history (>6 months of daily or near daily) of opioid misuse. Participants were required to provide a source of DNA and to be of either non-Hispanic European American or African American ancestry (to yield adequately powered subsamples for genetic analyses). Adults (age >18 years) with a history of opioid misuse were recruited from Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) recruitment and clinical sources, treatment centers, recovery residences, print and electronic advertisements, and social media. A brief, non-diagnostic screening call was completed to confirm the opioid misuse history of prospective participants. Limited lifetime misusers were required to have no opioid misuse for the past year. Extensive misusers were required to have had a clinical opioid use disorder diagnosis. Informed consent was obtained from all participants as per protocols approved by the institutional review boards of WUSM and the State of Missouri.

A modified Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA) obtained age of first, and most recent, use as well as DSM-5 substance use disorder diagnoses for heroin and prescription opioids (separately), cannabis, amphetamines, sedatives, cocaine, alcohol, and nicotine. Other assessed diagnoses included major depressive disorder, conduct disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Non-diagnostic sections obtained information on demographics and suicidality. A short form version of the Addition Research Center Interview, added to assess the subjective effects of opioid misuse, was modified to enable retrospective assessment. A subsequent change to telephone interviews enabled recruitment of participants from a much broader geographic area encompassing the U.S. and Canada.

Data are included here from 1774 individuals with a lifetime history of opioid misuse, of whom 1227 were of European American ancestry and 547 were of African American ancestry. We provide participants' estimated totals for number of times misused opioids lifetime and endorsement of opioid use disorder symptoms, which did not entirely correspond to our initial conceptualization of case and exposed control status.