Estimating the uncertain effect of the COVID pandemic on drug overdoses.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

U.S. drug-related overdose deaths and Emergency Department (ED) visits rose in 2020 and again in 2021. Many academic studies and the news media attributed this rise primarily to increased drug use resulting from the societal disruptions related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. A competing explanation is that higher overdose deaths and ED visits may have reflected a continuation of pre-pandemic trends in synthetic-opioid deaths, which began to rise in mid-2019. We assess the evidence on whether increases in overdose deaths and ED visits are likely to be related primarily to the COVID-19 pandemic, increased synthetic-opioid use, or some of both.

Methods

We use national data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on rolling 12-month drug-rela

SUBMITTER: Moghtaderi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10414597 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature