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(HealthDay) – Opioid overdose deaths have increased in several states during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the authors of a new study who say their findings could help identify and help those at risk.
“Our work represents the first multi-state report with detailed analyzes,” said lead author of the study, Mohammad Jalali, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston.
His team analyzed data on opioid overdose deaths in Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Utah and Wyoming in 2018, 2019 and during the pandemic.
Opioid-related death rates have increased in five of those states: Alaska, Colorado, Indiana, North Carolina and Rhode Island.
Researchers have also found changes in the types of opioids involved in overdose deaths.
Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana and North Carolina have simultaneously seen an increase in deaths from synthetic opioids and a decrease in heroin-related deaths.
Meanwhile, Alaska and Colorado have seen significant increases in the percentage of fatal overdoses involving cocaine, while those involving psychostimulants (drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine) have increased in Massachusetts.
Researchers have also reported changes in the populations most at risk for death from opioid overdose. Deaths among men have increased in Colorado and Indiana, for example.
The results can help identify and treat those at risk, according to the study’s authors.
The results, which were not peer reviewed, were recently posted on the preprint server. medRxiv.
Opioid overdose emergency room visits increase dramatically during COVID-19 pandemic
The National Institute on Drug Abuse in the United States has more on the opioid overdose crisis.
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Quote: Pandemic Linked to Increased Number of Deadly Opioid ODs (2021, Aug 24) Retrieved Aug 24, 2021 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-08-pandemic-tied-fatal- opioid-ods.html
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