Alcohol-involved overdose deaths in US veterans.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Alcohol-involved overdose deaths are increasing and often occur with other substances but have been minimally studied compared to other causes of overdose.

Methods

We used national Veterans Health Administration (VHA) records linked to National Death Index data from 2012 to 2018 to examine trends in alcohol-related overdose mortality. Patient characteristics and treatment receipt were compared across categories of alcohol overdose deaths (alcohol-only, alcohol+opioids which may include additional substances, and alcohol+other substances without opioids).

Results

From 2012-2018, 2421 Veterans died from an alcohol-involved overdose (alcohol-only: 868, alcohol+opioids: 1269, alcohol+other substances: 284). The alcohol-involved overdose rate increased 57% durin

SUBMITTER: Lin LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8714700 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature