Associations between Circumstances Surrounding Overdose and Underlying Classes of Polysubstance Overdose Deaths

Bibliographic Data

ID21645474
AuthorsShawn A Thomas (School of Public Health, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA, corresponding author), K D Wagner (0000-0002-8614-2004, School of Public Health, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA), Kristen Clements‐nolle (0000-0003-1983-0795, University of Nevada, Reno), Kristen D Clements-Nolle (School of Public Health, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA), Stanley T Omaye (University of Nevada, Reno), Stanley Omaye (College of Agriculture, Biotechnology, & Natural Resources, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, USA), Minggen Lu (0000-0002-7487-3627, School of Public Health, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA), Wei Yang (0000-0001-7249-4386, School of Public Health, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA)
Year2023
Volume58
Issue3
Pages434-443
Publication date2023-02-23
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSubstance Use & Misuse (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1082-6084 • E-ISSN: 1532-2491
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10826084.2023.2165414
PMID36617896
OpenAlexW4313857304
LanguageEN
References cited41

BACKGROUND: The overdose crisis is worsening, with polysubstance overdose deaths involving psychostimulants increasing in the U.S. Substance-specific prevention and intervention activities may not be as effective for polysubstance use, so we sought to classify substances used among overdose decedents to identify unique factors related to these classes. METHODS: We used data from the Nevada State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System, Jan 2019-Jun 2021, which comes from death certificates, coroner/medical examiner reports, and postmortem toxicology. Latent class analysis, multinomial logistic regression, and Chi-squared tests determined underlying drug use classes, differences in characteristics and circumstances surrounding overdose, and assessed relationships between circumstances and drug use classes. RESULTS: We identified four latent classes: (1) prescription drugs (19.1%), (2) predominately methamphetamine (31.4%), (3) multi-drug (28.9%), and (4) opioid and stimulant (20.6%). Compared to other classes, the prescription drug class had a higher percentage of female decedents, from rural counties, with mental health diagnoses, who died at home. The predominately methamphetamine class had a higher percentage of decedents experiencing homelessness. The multi-drug use class had higher percentage of younger and Hispanic decedents. Those in the opioid and stimulant class had higher odds of being recently released from an institutional setting, compared to the multi drug class. CONCLUSIONS: These underlying classes were associated with several characteristics and circumstances that can prove useful for prevention, treatment, and harm reduction agencies when designing programs and interventions to target specific groups of people at-risk for drug overdose

Drug overdose · Medical emergency · Poison control · Polysubstance dependence · Psychiatry · Substance use · Medicine · Opioid Use Disorder Treatment · Poisoning and overdose treatments · Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

Tools

Open DOI