The opioid epidemic in rural northern New England: An approach to epidemiologic, policy, and legal surveillance.

ABSTRACT: The opioid crisis presents substantial challenges to public health in New England's rural states, where access to pharmacotherapy for opioid use disorder (OUD), harm reduction, HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) services vary widely. We present an approach to characterizing the epidemiology, policy and resource environment for OUD and its consequences, with a focus on eleven rural counties in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont between 2014 and 2018. We developed health policy summaries and logic models to facilitate comparison of opioid epidemic-related polices across the three states that could influence the risk environment and access to services. We assessed sociodemographic factors, rates of overdose and infectious complications tied to OUD, and drive-time access to prevention and t

SUBMITTER: Stopka TJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6879818 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature