Medically treated opioid overdoses among New Jersey Medicaid beneficiaries: Rapid growth and complex comorbidity amid growing fentanyl penetration.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Medically treated opioid overdoses identify a population at high risk of subsequent mortality and need for treatment. This study reports on medically treated opioid overdose trends in a state with rapid fentanyl spread.

Methods

We conducted stratified trend analysis of medically treated overdose due to heroin, synthetic opioids, methadone, or other natural opioids among New Jersey Medicaid beneficiaries aged 12-64 years (2014-2019); evaluated associations with demographics and co-occurring conditions; and examined trends in fentanyl penetration in suspected heroin seizures from New Jersey State Police data.

Results

Overdose risk more than tripled from 2014 to 2019, from 120.5 to 426.8 per 100,000 person-years, respectively. Increases primarily involved heroi

SUBMITTER: Crystal S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8664984 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature