Trends and geographic patterns in drug-poisoning death rates in the U.S., 1999-2009.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Drug poisoning mortality has increased substantially in the U.S. over the past 3 decades. Previous studies have described state-level variation and urban-rural differences in drug-poisoning deaths, but variation at the county level has largely not been explored in part because crude county-level death rates are often highly unstable.

Purpose

The goal of the study was to use small-area estimation techniques to produce stable county-level estimates of age-adjusted death rates (AADR) associated with drug poisoning for the U.S., 1999-2009, in order to examine geographic and temporal variation.

Methods

Population-based observational study using data on 304,087 drug-poisoning deaths in the U.S. from the 1999-2009 National Vital Statistics Multiple Cause of Death

SUBMITTER: Rossen LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4659504 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature