Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the validity of undertaking time-series analyses on both fatal and non-fatal drug overdose outcomes for the surveillance of emerging drug threats, and to determine the validity of analyzing non-fatal indicators to support the early detection of fatal overdose outbreaks.
Design, Setting And Participants: Time-series analyses using county-level data containing fatal overdoses and non-fatal overdose counts were collected at monthly intervals between 2015 and 2021 in California and Florida, USA. To analyze these data, we used the Farrington algorithm (FA), a method used to detect aberrations in time-series data such that an abnormal increase in counts relative to previous observations would result in an alert. The FA's performance was compared with a bench-mark approach, using the standard deviation as an aberration detection threshold. We evaluated whether monthly alerts in non-fatal overdose can aid in identifying fatal drug overdose outbreaks, defined as a statistically significant increase in the 6-month overdose death rate. We also conducted analyses across regions, i.e. clusters of counties.
Measurements: Measurements were taken during emergency department and emergency medical service visits.
Findings: Both methods yielded a similar proportion of alerts across scenarios for non-fatal overdoses, while the bench-mark method yielded more alerts for fatal overdoses. For both methods, the correlations between surveillance evaluations were relatively poor in the detection of aberrations (typically < 35%) but were high between evaluations yielding no alerts (typically > 75%). For ongoing fatal overdose outbreaks, a strategy based on the detection of alerts at the county level from either method yielded a sensitivity of 66% for both California and Florida. At the regional level, the equivalent analyses had sensitivities of 81% for California and 77% for Florida.
Conclusion: Aberration detection methods can support the early detection of fatal drug overdose outbreaks, particularly when methodologies are applied in combination rather than individual methods separately.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/add.16674 | DOI Listing |
JAMA
December 2024
Division of Overdose Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
Scand J Pain
January 2024
Department of Clinical Sciences Malmö, Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University, Jan Waldenströms Gata 35, 202 13 Malmö, Sweden.
Objectives: The efficacy of long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) in treating patients with chronic non-cancer pain (CnCP) is questionable, and the potential risks of adverse effects are well established. The aims were as follows: (1) compare characteristics in patients exposed to LTOT vs non-exposed. (2) Regarding opioid-exposed patients, describe characteristics of patients with risk factors for opioid use disorder or overdose in relation to opioid dosage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlcohol Res
December 2024
Health Sciences Library, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
Purpose: Most research on the structural determinants of substance use and mental health has centered around widely studied factors such as alcohol taxes, tobacco control policies, essential/precursor chemical regulations, neighborhood/city characteristics, and immigration policies. Other structural determinants exist, however, many of which are being identified in the emerging fields of structural stigma, structural racism, and structural sexism. This narrative review surveys the measures and designs used in substance use and mental health studies from these three fields.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Geriatr Soc
December 2024
Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Background: Opioid naïve older adults may be at risk of overdose after receiving an initial opioid prescription.
Methods: This population-based cohort study from a linked dataset of patients in Oregon, linking all payer claims data to other administrative datasets, aimed to assess the prescription- and patient-level characteristics associated with increased odds of opioid overdose after an initial opioid prescription. Included patients were ≥65 years old and received an index pain-formulation opioid prescription between 2016 and 2019.
Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol
December 2024
Aster Integrated Liver Care, Aster Medcity, Kochi, India.
Acute liver failure (ALF) is a rare and dynamic syndrome occurring as a sequela of severe acute liver injury (ALI). Its mortality ranges from 50% to 75% based on the aetiology, patients age and severity of encephalopathy at admission. With improvement in intensive care techniques, transplant-free survival in ALF has improved over time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!