Background: Rates of methamphetamine use and methamphetamine-related deaths have increased steadily in the United States in recent years. Methamphetamine is increasingly present in opioid-related deaths. An initial study of de-identified urine specimens (n = 102) collected at a drug treatment program between 2017 and 2018 indicated that 61% of specimens contained methamphetamine; of the specimens containing methamphetamine, people were, on average, five years younger than those who tested negative for methamphetamine; and non-fentanyl opioids were more than three times as common in methamphetamine positive specimens.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis research investigated how socially sensed data can be used to detect ZIP level characteristics that are associated with spatial and temporal patterns of Emergency Department patients with a chief complaint and/or diagnosis of overdose or drug-related health problems for four hospitals in Baltimore and Anne Arundel County, MD during 2016-2018. Dynamic characteristics were identified using socially-sensed data (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose Of Review: In 2013, NIH NIDA released a special funding opportunity to update and expand their longstanding Community Epidemiology Workgroup (CEWG) by creating a coordinating center for a new type of monitoring system that became the National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS). This article provides an overview of four primary NDEWS components: core staff; an approach to detecting and monitoring emerging drug trends including community-based epidemiologists and national databases; small rapid follow-up studies; and innovative multimedia approaches for disseminating information.
Recent Findings: The cornerstones for detecting and monitoring are the 1700+ member NDEWS Network and a coalition of local epidemiologists.
This research presents an analysis of spatial access to both opioid use disorder treatment facilities and emergency medical services in New Hampshire during 2015-2016, a period during which there was a steep increase in unintentional overdoses involving fentanyl. For this research, spatial access was computed using the enhanced two-step floating catchment area model combined with the Huff model to assess access across New Hampshire and gives attention to supply-side parameters that can impact spatial access. The model is designed to measure access to healthcare services for opioid use disorder patients offered at treatment centers or from buprenorphine treatment practitioners, as well as from emergency medical services across New Hampshire.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe investigate the geographic patterns of drug poisoning deaths involving heroin by county for the USA from 2000 to 2014. The county-level patterns of mortality are examined with respect to age-adjusted rates of death for different classes of urbanization and racial and ethnic groups, while rates based on raw counts of drug poisoning deaths involving heroin are estimated for different age groups and by gender. To account for possible underestimations in these rates due to small areas or small numbers, spatial empirical Baye's estimation techniques have been used to smooth the rates of death and alleviate underestimation when analyzing spatial patterns for these different groups.
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