Naloxone administration among opioid-involved overdose deaths in 38 United States jurisdictions in the State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System, 2019

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Drug Alcohol Depend
• Personal Author:
  Quinn, Kelly ; Kumar, Sagar ; Hunter, Calli T. ; O’Donnell, Julie ; Davis, Nicole L.
• Description:
  Background:
  
  The majority of drug overdose deaths in the United States involve opioids, and synthetic opioid-involved overdose death rates are increasing. Naloxone is a key prevention strategy yet estimates of its administration are limited.
  
  Methods:
  
  We analyzed 2019 data from 37 states and the District of Columbia in CDC’s State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System to estimate the percentage of decedents, by sociodemographic subgroup, who experienced a fatal opioid-involved overdose and had no evidence of naloxone administration.
  
  Results:
  
  A total of 77.3% of 33,084 opioid-involved overdose deaths had no evidence of naloxone administration. Statistically significant subgroup differences were observed for all sociodemographic groups examined except housing status. The highest percentages of decedents lacking evidence of naloxone administration were those with highest educational attainment (doctorate or professional degree, 87.0%), oldest (55–64 years, 83.4%; ≥65 years, 87.3%) and youngest ages (<15 years, 87.5%), and single marital status (84.5%). The lowest percentages of no evidence of naloxone administration were observed for non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaskan Native persons (66.2%) and those ages 15–24 years (70.8%).
  
  Conclusions:
  
  More than three-quarters of opioid-involved overdose deaths had no evidence of naloxone administration, underscoring the need to ensure sufficient naloxone access and capacity for utilization. While fatal overdose data cannot fully characterize sociodemographic disparities in naloxone administration, naloxone education and access efforts can be informed by apparent inequities. Public health partners can assist persons who use drugs (PWUD) by maintaining naloxone supply and amplifying messages about the high risk of using drugs alone among PWUD and their social networks.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adolescent Adult Analgesics, Opioid Article District Of Columbia Drug Overdose Harm Reduction Health Disparities Humans Naloxone Narcotic Antagonists Opiate Overdose Opioid-involved Overdose Opioid-Related Disorders Overdose Mortality United States Young Adult

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• Source:
  Drug Alcohol Depend. 235:109467
• Pubmed ID:
  35461083
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC9106898
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Volume:
  235
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:43709f9a81a8efe7d6213702225d4cfb926847e5ccab37302434a8064f364425
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/117335/cdc_117335_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 318.75 KB ]