Trends in Opioid Toxicity-Related Deaths in the US Before and After the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2011-2021.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Opioid-related harms constitute a major public health crisis in the US, and this crisis has worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives

To characterize the societal burden of unintentional opioid-related deaths in the US and describe changing mortality patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design, setting, and participants

A serial cross-sectional study examined all unintentional opioid-related deaths in the US, evaluated annually from calendar years 2011 to 2021.

Main outcomes and measures

The public health burden of opioid toxicity-related deaths was estimated in 2 ways. First, the proportion of all deaths that were attributable to unintentional opioid toxicity by year (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021) and age group (15-19, 20-29, 30-

SUBMITTER: Gomes T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10329206 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature