Department of Health Policy and Management, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA.
Department of Epidemiology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA.
Int J Drug Policy. 2022 Nov;109:103836. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103836. Epub 2022 Aug 15.
In the US, spikes in drug overdose deaths overlapping with the COVID-19 pandemic create concern that persons who use drugs are especially vulnerable. This study aimed to compare the trends in opioid overdose deaths and characterize opioid overdose deaths by drug subtype and person characteristics pre-COVID (2017-2019) and one-year post-COVID-19 emergence (2020).
We obtained death certificates on drug overdose deaths in Arkansas from January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2020. Our analyses consisted of an interrupted time-series and segmented regression analysis to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the number of opioid overdose deaths.
The proportion of opioid overdose deaths increased by 36% post-COVID emergence (95% CI: 14%, 59%). The trend in overdose deaths involving synthetic narcotics other than methadone, such as fentanyl and tramadol, has increased since 2018 (74 in 2018 vs 79 in 2019; p=0.02 and 79 in 2019 versus 158 in 2020; p = 0.03). Opioid overdose deaths involving methamphetamine have more than doubled (36 in 2019 vs 82 in 2020; p = 0.06) despite remaining steady from 2018 to 2019. Synthetic narcotics have surpassed methamphetamine (71% vs. 37%) as the leading cause of opioid overdose deaths in Arkansas during the pandemic. This study found that synthetic narcotics are the significant drivers of the increase in opioid overdose deaths in Arkansas during the pandemic.
The co-occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the drug abuse epidemic further highlights the increased need for expanding awareness and availability of resources for treating substance use disorders.
在美国，与新冠疫情重叠的药物过量死亡人数飙升，这引发了人们对吸毒者尤其脆弱的担忧。本研究旨在比较新冠疫情前（2017-2019 年）和新冠疫情后一年（2020 年）阿肯色州的阿片类药物过量死亡趋势，并对药物滥用情况和个人特征进行分析。
我们从 2017 年 1 月 1 日至 2020 年 12 月 31 日，获取了阿肯色州的药物过量死亡证明。我们的分析包括中断时间序列和分段回归分析，以评估新冠疫情对阿片类药物过量死亡人数的影响。
与新冠疫情出现后，阿片类药物过量死亡人数增加了 36%（95%CI：14%，59%）。自 2018 年以来，除美沙酮以外的合成麻醉剂（如芬太尼和曲马多）导致的过量死亡人数呈上升趋势（2018 年 74 例，2019 年 79 例；p=0.02；2019 年 79 例，2020 年 158 例；p=0.03）。尽管 2018 年至 2019 年保持稳定，但涉及甲基苯丙胺的阿片类药物过量死亡人数增加了一倍多（2019 年 36 例，2020 年 82 例；p=0.06）。在新冠疫情期间，合成麻醉剂已超过甲基苯丙胺（71%对 37%）成为阿肯色州阿片类药物过量死亡的主要原因。本研究发现，在新冠疫情期间，合成麻醉剂是阿肯色州阿片类药物过量死亡人数增加的主要原因。
新冠疫情与药物滥用危机的同时发生，进一步凸显了扩大对治疗药物使用障碍的认识和资源供应的必要性。
