Drug, Opioid-Involved, and Heroin-Involved Overdose Deaths Among American Indians and Alaska Natives — Washington, 1999–2015

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Joshi, Sujata ; Weiser, Thomas ; Warren-Mears, Victoria
• Description:
  The opioid epidemic has resulted in a threefold increase in drug overdose deaths in the United States during 1999-2015 (1). Whereas American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) have experienced larger increases in drug overdose Mortality than have other racial/ethnic groups in the United States (2), little is known about the regional impact of opioids in tribal and urban AI/AN communities. To address this data gap, death records from the Washington State Center for Health Statistics, corrected for misclassification of AI/AN race, were examined to identify Trends and disparities in drug, opioid-involved, and heroin-involved overdose Mortality rates for AI/AN and non-Hispanic whites (whites) in Washington. Although AI/AN and whites had similar overdose Mortality rates during 1999-2001, subsequent overdose rates among AI/AN increased at a faster rate than did those among whites. During 2013-2015, Mortality rates among AI/AN were 2.7 and 4.1 times higher than rates among whites for total drug and opioid-involved overdoses and heroin-involved overdoses, respectively. Washington death Certificates that were not corrected for misclassification of AI/AN race underestimated drug overdose Mortality rates among AI/AN by approximately 40%. National statistics on the opioid epidemic, which report that overdose Mortality rates are significantly higher among whites than among AI/AN, are not reflective of regional prevalences, disparities, and Trends. Comprehensive efforts to address the opioid epidemic in AI/AN communities rely on strong partnerships between tribal governments and local, state, and federal entities. Additional measures are needed for community-based Surveillance, treatment, and Prevention to effectively respond to the epidemic across diverse tribal and urban AI/AN communities.
• Subjects:
  Adult Alaska Natives Analgesics, Opioid Drug Overdose Female Heroin Humans Indians, North American Male Middle Aged
• Source:
  MMWR Morbidity Mortal Weekly Rep. 67(50):1384-1387
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• DOI:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6750a2
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Pubmed ID:
  30571673
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC6342552
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Washington
• Pages in Document:
  4 pdf pages
• Volume:
  67
• Issue:
  50
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9984ac31514fecb71f944dcc08627379d39d45f35d8da3ef6a0a032b6c38ffa805cd4ad42c1e6ee74734990f1bcebde4eb5cfec19d4566aec8540ff21d5a22c7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/76006/cdc_76006_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 109.33 KB ]