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Characteristics of US Counties With High Opioid Overdose Mortality and Low Capacity to Deliver Medications for Opioid Use Disorder.

ABSTRACT: Importance:Opioid overdose deaths in the United States continue to increase, reflecting a growing need to treat those with opioid use disorder (OUD). Little is known about counties with high rates of opioid overdose mortality but low availability of OUD treatment. Objective:To identify characteristics of US counties with persistently high rates of opioid overdose mortality and low capacity to deliver OUD medications. Design, Setting, and Participants:In this cross-sectional study of data from 3142 US counties from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2017, rates of opioid overdose mortality were compared with availability in 2017 of OUD medication providers (24?851 buprenorphine-waivered clinicians [physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants], 1517 opioid treatment programs [providing methadone], and 5222 health care professionals who could prescribe extended-release naltrexone). Statistical analysis was performed from April 20, 2018, to May 8, 2019. Exposures:Demographic, workforce, lack of insurance, road density, urbanicity, opioid prescribing, and regional division county-level characteristics. Main Outcome and Measures:The outcome variable, "opioid high-risk county," was a binary indicator of a high (above national) rate of opioid overdose mortality with a low (below national) rate of provider availability to deliver OUD medication. Spatial logistic regression models were used to determine associations with being an opioid high-risk county. Results:Of 3142 counties, 751 (23.9%) had high rates of opioid overdose mortality. A total of 1457 counties (46.4%), and 946 of 1328 rural counties (71.2%), lacked a publicly available OUD medication provider in 2017. In adjusted models, compared with the West North Central division, counties in the East North Central, Mountain, and South Atlantic divisions had increased odds of being opioid high-risk counties (East North Central: odds ratio [OR], 2.21; 95% CI, 1.19-4.12; Mountain: OR, 4.15; 95% CI, 1.34-12.89; and South Atlantic: OR, 2.99; 95% CI, 1.26-7.11). A 1% increase in unemployment was associated with increased odds (OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.03-1.15) of a county being an opioid high-risk county. Counties with an additional 10 primary care clinicians per 100?000 population had a reduced risk of being opioid high-risk counties (OR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.85-0.93), as did counties that were micropolitan (vs metropolitan) (OR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.50-0.90) and those that had an additional 1% of the population younger than 25 years (OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.92-0.98). Conclusions and Relevance:Counties with low availability of OUD medication providers and high rates of opioid overdose mortality were less likely to be micropolitan and have lower primary care clinician density, but were more likely to be in the East North Central, South Atlantic, or Mountain division and have higher rates of unemployment. Strategies to increase medication treatment must account for these factors.

SUBMITTER: Haffajee RL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6604101 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Characteristics of US Counties With High Opioid Overdose Mortality and Low Capacity to Deliver Medications for Opioid Use Disorder.

Haffajee Rebecca L RL Lin Lewei Allison LA Bohnert Amy S B ASB Goldstick Jason E JE

JAMA network open 20190605 6

<h4>Importance</h4>Opioid overdose deaths in the United States continue to increase, reflecting a growing need to treat those with opioid use disorder (OUD). Little is known about counties with high rates of opioid overdose mortality but low availability of OUD treatment.<h4>Objective</h4>To identify characteristics of US counties with persistently high rates of opioid overdose mortality and low capacity to deliver OUD medications.<h4>Design, setting, and participants</h4>In this cross-sectional ...[more]

PMID: 31251376

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Project description:Background:Opioid overdose survivors have an increased risk for death. Whether use of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) after overdose is associated with mortality is not known. Objective:To identify MOUD use after opioid overdose and its association with all-cause and opioid-related mortality. Design:Retrospective cohort study. Setting:7 individually linked data sets from Massachusetts government agencies. Participants:17 568 Massachusetts adults without cancer who survived an opioid overdose between 2012 and 2014. Measurements:Three types of MOUD were examined: methadone maintenance treatment (MMT), buprenorphine, and naltrexone. Exposure to MOUD was identified at monthly intervals, and persons were considered exposed through the month after last receipt. A multivariable Cox proportional hazards model was used to examine MOUD as a monthly time-varying exposure variable to predict time to all-cause and opioid-related mortality. Results:In the 12 months after a nonfatal overdose, 2040 persons (11%) enrolled in MMT for a median of 5 months (interquartile range, 2 to 9 months), 3022 persons (17%) received buprenorphine for a median of 4 months (interquartile range, 2 to 8 months), and 1099 persons (6%) received naltrexone for a median of 1 month (interquartile range, 1 to 2 months). Among the entire cohort, all-cause mortality was 4.7 deaths (95% CI, 4.4 to 5.0 deaths) per 100 person-years and opioid-related mortality was 2.1 deaths (CI, 1.9 to 2.4 deaths) per 100 person-years. Compared with no MOUD, MMT was associated with decreased all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR], 0.47 [CI, 0.32 to 0.71]) and opioid-related mortality (AHR, 0.41 [CI, 0.24 to 0.70]). Buprenorphine was associated with decreased all-cause mortality (AHR, 0.63 [CI, 0.46 to 0.87]) and opioid-related mortality (AHR, 0.62 [CI, 0.41 to 0.92]). No associations between naltrexone and all-cause mortality (AHR, 1.44 [CI, 0.84 to 2.46]) or opioid-related mortality (AHR, 1.42 [CI, 0.73 to 2.79]) were identified. Limitation:Few events among naltrexone recipients preclude confident conclusions. Conclusion:A minority of opioid overdose survivors received MOUD. Buprenorphine and MMT were associated with reduced all-cause and opioid-related mortality. Primary Funding Source:National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.

Project description:IntroductionAlongside the emergence of COVID-19 in the United States, several reports highlighted increasing rates of opioid overdose from preliminary data. Yet, little is known about how state-level opioid overdose death trends and decedent characteristics have evolved using official death records.MethodsWe requested vital statistics data from 2018-2020 from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, receiving data from 14 states. Accounting for COVID-19, we excluded states without data past March 2020, leaving 11 states for analysis. We defined state-specific analysis periods from March 13 until the latest reliable date in each state's data, then conducted retrospective year-over-year analyses comparing opioid-related overdose death rates, the presence of specific opioids and other psychoactive substances, and decedents' sex, race, and age from 2020 to 2019 and 2019 to 2018 within each state's analysis period. We assessed whether significant changes in 2020 vs. 2019 in opioid overdose deaths were new or continuing trends using joinpoint regression.ResultsWe found significant increases in opioid-related overdose death rates in Alaska (55.3%), Colorado (80.2%), Indiana (40.1%), Nevada (50.0%), North Carolina (30.5%), Rhode Island (29.6%), and Virginia (66.4%) - all continuing previous trends. Increases in synthetic opioid-involved overdose deaths were new in Alaska (136.5%), Indiana (27.6%), and Virginia (16.5%), whilst continuing in Colorado (44.4%), Connecticut (3.6%), Nevada (75.0%), and North Carolina (14.6%). We found new increases in male decedents in Indiana (12.0%), and continuing increases in Colorado (15.2%). We also found continuing increases in Black non-Hispanic decedents in Massachusetts (43.9%) and Virginia (33.7%).ConclusionThis research analyzes vital statistics data from 11 states, highlighting new trends in opioid overdose deaths and decedent characteristics across 10 of these states. These findings can inform state-specific public health interventions and highlight the need for timely and comprehensive fatal opioid overdose data, especially amidst concurrent crises such as COVID-19. Key messages:Our results highlight shifts in opioid overdose trends during the COVID-19 pandemic that cannot otherwise be extracted from aggregated or provisional opioid overdose death data such as those published by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids continue to drive increases in fatal overdoses, making it difficult to separate these trends from any possible COVID-19-related factors.Black non-Hispanic people are making up an increasing proportion of opioid overdose deaths in some states.State-specific limitations and variations in data-reporting for vital statistics make it challenging to acquire and analyse up-to-date data on opioid-related overdose deaths. More timely and comprehensive data are needed to generate broader insights on the nature of the intersecting opioid and COVID-19 crises.

Project description:Importance:Treatment with methadone or buprenorphine is the current standard of care for opioid use disorder. Given the paucity of research identifying which patients will respond best to which medication, both medications should be accessible to all patients so that patients can determine which works best for them. However, given differences in the historical contexts of their initial implementation, access to each of these medications may vary along racial/ethnic lines. Objective:To examine the extent to which capacity to provide methadone and buprenorphine vary with measures of racial/ethnic segregation. Design, Setting, and Participants:This cross-sectional study included all counties and county-equivalent divisions in the US in 2016. Data on racial/ethnic population distribution were derived from the American Community Survey, and data on locations of facilities providing methadone and buprenorphine were obtained from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration databases. Data were analyzed from August 22, 2018, to September 11, 2019. Exposures:Two county-level measures of racial/ethnic segregation, including dissimilarity (representing the proportion of African American or Hispanic/Latino residents who would need to move census tracts to achieve a uniform spatial distribution of the population by race/ethnicity) and interaction (representing the probability that an African American or Hispanic/Latino resident will interact with a white resident and vice versa, assuming random mixing across census tracts). Main Outcomes and Measures:County-level capacity to provide methadone or buprenorphine, defined as the number of facilities providing a medication per 100?000 population. Results:Among 3142 US counties, there were 1698 facilities providing methadone (0.6 facilities per 100?000 population) and 18?868 facilities providing buprenorphine (5.9 facilities per 100?000 population). Each 1% decrease in probability of interaction of an African American resident with a white resident was associated with 0.6 more facilities providing methadone per 100?000 population. Similarly, each 1% decrease in probability of interaction of a Hispanic/Latino resident with a white resident was associated with 0.3 more facilities providing methadone per 100?000 population. Each 1% decrease in the probability of interaction of a white resident with an African American resident was associated with 8.17 more facilities providing buprenorphine per 100?000 population. Similarly, each 1% decrease in the probability of interaction of a white resident with a Hispanic/Latino resident was associated with 1.61 more facilities providing buprenorphine per 100?000 population. Conclusions and Relevance:These findings suggest that the racial/ethnic composition of a community was associated with which medications residents would likely be able to access when seeking treatment for opioid use disorder. Reforms to existing regulations governing the provisions of these medications are needed to ensure that both medications are equally accessible to all.

Project description:BackgroundLocal governments on the front lines of the opioid epidemic often collaborate across organizations to achieve a more comprehensive opioid response. Collaboration is especially important in rural communities, which can lack capacity for addressing health crises, yet little is known about how local collaboration in opioid response relates to key outputs like treatment capacity.PurposeThis cross-sectional study examined the association between local governments' interorganizational collaboration activity and agonist treatment capacity for opioid use disorder (OUD), and whether this association was stronger for rural than for metropolitan communities.MethodsData on the location of facilities providing buprenorphine and methadone were merged with a 2019 survey of all 358 counties in 5 states (CO, NC, OH, PA, and WA) that inquired about their collaboration activity for opioid response. Regression analysis was used to estimate the effect of a collaboration activity index and its constituent items on the capacity to provide buprenorphine or methadone in a county and whether this differed by urbanicity.ResultsA response rate of 47.8% yielded an analytic sample of n = 171 counties, including 77 metropolitan, 50 micropolitan, and 44 rural counties. Controlling for covariates, a 1-unit increase in the collaboration activity index was associated with 0.155 (95% CI = 0.005, 0.304) more methadone facilities, ie, opioid treatment programs (OTPs), per 100 000 population. An interaction model indicated this association was stronger for rural (average marginal effect = 0.354, 95% CI = 0.110, 0.599) than for non-rural counties. Separate models revealed intergovernmental data and information sharing, formal agreements, and organizational reforms were driving the above associations. Collaboration activity did not vary with the capacity to provide buprenorphine at non-OTP facilities. Spatial models used to account for spatial dependence occurring with OUD treatment capacity showed similar results.ConclusionRural communities may be able to leverage collaborations in opioid response to expand treatment capacity through OTPs.

Project description:IntroductionOpioid and sedative/hypnotic drug overdoses are major causes of morbidity in the U.S. This study compares 12-month incidence of fatal unintentional drug overdose, suicide, and other mortality among emergency department patients presenting with nonfatal opioid or sedative/hypnotic overdose.MethodsThis is a retrospective cohort study using statewide, longitudinally linked emergency department patient record and mortality data from California. Participants comprised all residents presenting to a licensed emergency department at least once in 2009-2011 with nonfatal unintentional opioid overdose, sedative/hypnotic overdose, or neither (a 5% random sample). Participants were followed for 1 year after index emergency department presentation to assess death from unintentional overdose, suicide, or other causes, ascertained using ICD-10 codes. Absolute death rates per 100,000 person years and standardized mortality ratios relative to the general population were calculated. Data were analyzed February-August 2019.ResultsFollowing the index emergency department visit, unintentional overdose death rates per 100,000 person years were 1,863 following opioid overdose, 342 following sedative/hypnotic overdose, and 31 for reference patients without an index overdose (respective standardized mortality ratios of 106.1, 95% CI=95.2, 116.9; 24.5, 95% CI=21.3, 27.6; and 2.6, 95% CI=2.2, 3.0). Suicide mortality rates per 100,000 were 319, 174, and 32 following opioid overdose, sedative/hypnotic overdose, and reference visits, respectively. Natural causes mortality rates per 100,000 were 8,058 (opioid overdose patients), 17,301 (sedative/hypnotic overdose patients), and 3,097 (reference patients).ConclusionsEmergency department patients with nonfatal opioid or sedative/hypnotic drug overdose have exceptionally high risks of death from unintentional overdose, suicide, and other causes. Emergency department-based interventions offer potential for reducing these patients' overdose and other mortality risks.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) may contribute to opioid overdose. OBJECTIVE:To examine the association between PIP and adverse events. DESIGN:Cohort study. PARTICIPANTS:Three million seventy-eight thousand thirty-four individuals age ≥ 18, without disseminated cancer, who received prescription opioids between 2011 and 2015. MAIN MEASURES:We defined PIP as (a) morphine equivalent dose ≥ 100 mg/day in ≥ 3 months; (b) overlapping opioid and benzodiazepine prescriptions in ≥ 3 months; (c) ≥ 4 opioid prescribers in any quarter; (d) ≥ 4 opioid-dispensing pharmacies in any quarter; (e) cash purchase of prescription opioids on ≥ 3 occasions; and (f) receipt of opioids in 3 consecutive months without a documented pain diagnosis. We used Cox proportional hazards models to identify PIP practices associated with non-fatal opioid overdose, fatal opioid overdose, and all-cause mortality, controlling for covariates. KEY RESULTS:All six types of PIP were associated with higher adjusted hazard for all-cause mortality, four of six with non-fatal overdose, and five of six with fatal overdose. Lacking a documented pain diagnosis was associated with non-fatal overdose (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] 2.21, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.02-2.41), as was high-dose opioids (AHR 1.68, 95% CI 1.59-1.76). Co-prescription of benzodiazepines was associated with fatal overdose (AHR 4.23, 95% CI 3.85-4.65). High-dose opioids were associated with all-cause mortality (AHR 2.18, 95% CI 2.14-2.23), as was lacking a documented pain diagnosis (AHR 2.05, 95% CI 2.01-2.09). Compared to those who received opioids without PIP, the hazard for fatal opioid overdose with one, two, three, and ≥ four PIP subtypes were 4.24, 7.05, 10.28, and 12.99 (test of linear trend, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:PIP was associated with higher hazard for all-cause mortality, fatal overdose, and non-fatal overdose. Our study implies the possibility of creating a risk score incorporating multiple PIP subtypes, which could be displayed to prescribers in real time.

Project description:Background: This study sought to explore whether intervening in suspected cases of opioid overdose alters interest in treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). Data were collected as a part of a trial comparing the effects of different overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) training curricula on overdose outcomes. Methods: Following OEND training, participants completed four in-person follow-up visits at 1-, 3-, 6- and 12-months. Participants were also regularly contacted to inquire about overdose events they responded to, witnessed, or experienced themselves. Other assessments included the Addiction Severity Index that queries participants' perceived importance of drug treatment on a scale of: 0 (Not at All) to 4 (Extremely). For the current secondary data analysis, treatment importance was assessed at the time points most immediately preceding and following participant intervention in an overdose event using naloxone. Results: The sample reported a mean duration of opioid use of 14.9 (± 11.5) years, with 67% having witnessed an overdose event prior to the study. Of the 321 enrolled, 92 participants used naloxone in response to 166 suspected cases of an opioid overdose. For the entire sample, mean treatment importance did not significantly change throughout the study. Among participants who utilized naloxone, treatment importance increased following the event (Before: 3.03, After: 3.39, p = 0.02). Due to the amount of time between the overdose event and assessment of post-event treatment importance (40.5 days, ±40.2), the current study most likely underestimates this effect. Conclusions: The current study suggests that responding to an overdose event increases interest in OUD treatment. Currently only considered an acute intervention to reduce overdose morbidity and mortality, OEND may have the potential to increase enrollment in medications to treat OUD. However, a prospective investigation needs to determine if the impact of an overdose event could be utilized to increase treatment engagement.

Dataset Information

Characteristics of US Counties With High Opioid Overdose Mortality and Low Capacity to Deliver Medications for Opioid Use Disorder.

Publications

Characteristics of US Counties With High Opioid Overdose Mortality and Low Capacity to Deliver Medications for Opioid Use Disorder.

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