Modeling Health Benefits and Harms of Public Policy Responses to the US Opioid Epidemic.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:To estimate health outcomes of policies to mitigate the opioid epidemic. METHODS:We used dynamic compartmental modeling of US adults, in various pain, opioid use, and opioid addiction health states, to project addiction-related deaths, life years, and quality-adjusted life years from 2016 to 2025 for 11 policy responses to the opioid epidemic. RESULTS:Over 5 years, increasing naloxone availability, promoting needle exchange, expanding medication-assisted addiction treatment, and increasing psychosocial treatment increased life years and quality-adjusted life years and reduced deaths. Other policies reduced opioid prescription supply and related deaths but led some addicted prescription users to switch to heroin use, which increased heroin-related deaths. Over a longer horizon, s

SUBMITTER: Pitt AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6137764 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature