Spatiotemporal Trends in Opioid Overdose Deaths by Race for Counties in Ohio.
Epidemiology
; 32(2): 295-302, 2021 03 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33394810
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The opioid epidemic continues to be an ongoing public health crisis in the United States. Initially, large increases in overdose death rates were observed in largely rural, White communities, leading to the initial perception that the opioid epidemic was primarily a problem for the White population. Recent findings have shown increasing rates of overdose death among Blacks. We compare overdose rates between Blacks and Whites and explore county-level spatiotemporal heterogeneity in Ohio.METHODS:
We obtained county-level opioid overdose death counts for Whites and Blacks from 2007 to 2018 in Ohio. We fit a Bayesian multivariate spatial rates model to estimate annual standardized mortality ratios for Whites and Blacks for each county. We accounted for correlation between racial groups in the same county and across space and time. We also estimated differences in the mean trends between urban and rural counties for each racial group.RESULTS:
The overall overdose death rate in the state was increasing until 2018. County-level death rates for Whites were higher than Blacks throughout the state early in the study period. Death rates for Blacks increased throughout the study period and were comparable to the rates for Whites by the end of the study in many counties.CONCLUSIONS:
County-level opioid overdose death rates increased faster for Blacks than Whites during the study. By 2018, death rates were comparable for Blacks and Whites in many counties. The opioid epidemic spans racial groups in Ohio and trends indicate that overdose is a growing problem among Blacks.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Drug Overdose
/
Opiate Overdose
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Aspects:
Determinantes_sociais_saude
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
Epidemiology
Journal subject:
EPIDEMIOLOGIA
Year:
2021
Document type:
Article