Longitudinal trends in opioid-related mortality

ABSTRACT

The United States experiences high rates of opioid use-related mortality. However, little research available examines longitudinal trends in opioid-related mortality and includes social/environmental factors known to be associated with opioid use. This study examines the longitudinal trends of mortality among opioid-related suicides, homicides, legal interventions, and unintentional firearm use while controlling for multiple demographic and clinical factors associated with opioid use. Results show a significant increase over time in all manners of mortality, including homicide, suicide, legal intervention, and unintentional firearm use. These results offer direction in the future intervention and policies to effectively address opioid-related fatalities by social workers.

KEYWORDS:

• Homicide
• legal intervention
• mortality
• opioid use
• suicide
• unintentional firearm use

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.