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CDC: Opioid overdose deaths continue to increase

From 2014 to 2015, opioid-related death rates significantly increased, particularly among males and for deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone.

“The U.S. opioid epidemic is continuing, and drug overdose deaths nearly tripled during 1999-2014. Among 47,055 drug overdose deaths that occurred in 2014 in the United States, 28,647 (60.9%) involved an opioid. Illicit opioids are contributing to the increase in opioid overdose deaths,” Rose A. Rudd, MSPH, of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, and colleagues wrote.

To inform prevention strategies to address the quickly changing epidemic, researchers analyzed overall drug overdose death rates from 2010 to 2015 and opioid overdose death rates from 2014 to 2015 by subcategories of opioid type (ie, natural/semisynthetic opioids, methadone, heroin, and synthetic opioids other than methadone). Rates were stratified by demographics, region, and by 28 states with high quality reporting on death certificates.

Drug overdose death rates significantly increased from 12.3 per 100,000 population in 2010 to 16.3 per 100,000 population in 2015.

Death rates increased in 30 states and Washington, D.C., while remaining stable in 19 states.

In 2015, 52,404 individuals died from a drug overdose, compared with 47,055 in 2014. Of these, 63.1% involved an opioid.

Age-adjusted opioid-related death rates increased from 9 per 100,000 in 2014 to 10.4 per 100,000 in 2015. This indicated a 15.6% increase, which was largely due to increases in deaths involving heroin and synthetic opioids other than methadone, according to researchers.

Death rates for natural/semisynthetic opioids increased by 2.6%, heroin increased by 20.6%, and synthetic opioids increased by 72.2%.

From 2014 to 2015, methadone death rates decreased by 9.1%, but increased among individuals aged 65 years and older.

Death rates involving heroin and synthetic opioids other than methadone increased among males and females, individuals aged 15 years and older and all racial/ethnic groups; however, heroin death rates remained stable among males aged 15 to 24 years.

In 2015, death rates for synthetic opioids other than methadone were highest among males aged 25 to 44 years, at 8.9 per 100,000 population, indicating a 102.3% increase from 2014.

Heroin death rates were also highest among this group, increasing by 22.2% to 13.2 per 100,000 population in 2015.

“There is an urgent need for a multifaceted, collaborative public health and law enforcement approach to the opioid epidemic, including implementing the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain; improving access to and use of prescription drug monitoring programs; expanding naloxone distribution; enhancing opioid use disorder treatment capacity and linkage into treatment, including medication-assisted treatment; implementing harm reduction approaches, such as syringe services program; and supporting law enforcement strategies to reduce the illicit opioid supply,” the researchers concluded. – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.