Abraham Aswini, Gray Andrew C, Wagner Jascha, Anderson Tammy L
Department of Applied Economics and Statistics, University of Delaware.
Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice, University of Delaware.
Dela J Public Health. 2021 Dec 15;7(5):44-51. doi: 10.32481/djph.2021.12.014. eCollection 2021 Dec.
To examine whether overdose deaths and related metrics-overdose calls for service to police and non-fatal overdose emergency department visits-in Delaware follow within-year (i.e., seasonal) patterns during the most recent years of the opioid epidemic (2016-2020).
We begin by providing descriptive statistics on yearly trends in overdose metrics, followed by Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to analyze whether seasonal variations have a significant impact on the patterns of Delaware's overdose metrics while controlling for annual variations.
We find yearly variations across the three overdose-related metrics, with overdose deaths reporting the only consistent increases per year. Within-year, or seasonal, variations show the spring months have the most consistent increases in overdose deaths and overdose calls for service across years we studied. Finally, we report significant differences for all overdose metrics across years and seasons.
As in prior studies, we find significant variation in overdose-related metrics by season in Delaware.
These findings lend support to existing interventions in slowing yearly growth in overdose deaths. However, allocation of resources and interventions to specific times of the year-when overdoses are highest-may further reduce risks and harms.
研究在阿片类药物流行的最近几年（2016 - 2020年），特拉华州的过量用药死亡及相关指标——向警方求助的过量用药服务呼叫以及非致命性过量用药的急诊科就诊情况——是否遵循年内（即季节性）模式。
我们首先提供过量用药指标年度趋势的描述性统计数据，随后进行方差分析（ANOVA），以分析季节性变化在控制年度变化的同时，是否对特拉华州过量用药指标的模式产生显著影响。
我们发现这三项与过量用药相关的指标存在年度变化，其中过量用药死亡人数每年都呈现出唯一持续增长的情况。在我们研究的各年份中，年内（即季节性）变化显示春季月份的过量用药死亡人数和向警方求助的过量用药服务呼叫量增长最为一致。最后，我们报告了所有过量用药指标在年份和季节上的显著差异。
与先前的研究一样，我们发现特拉华州的过量用药相关指标存在显著的季节性差异。
这些发现为现有的减缓过量用药死亡人数年度增长的干预措施提供了支持。然而，在一年中过量用药发生率最高的特定时间分配资源和进行干预，可能会进一步降低风险和危害。
