Presented at the 2012 AAPM Annual Meeting « Back

Characteristics of Fatal Opioid Overdose Decedents

Erin M. Johnson, MPH, erjohnso@utah.gov¹, Christy Porucznik, PhD MSPH², Jacob Crook, BS¹, Robert Rolfs, MD MPH², Brian Sauer, PhD¹, (1) Utah Department of Health, Salt Lake City, Utah, (2) University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

In 2008, 67% of drug overdose deaths in Utah involved prescription opioids. In order to identify characteristics related to unintentional (including accidental and unknown intent) drug overdose deaths in Utah, a study was designed to collect information by interviewing the relative or friend most knowledgeable about the decedent’s life. Interviews were conducted for individuals who died between October 2008 and October 2009. Analysis was restricted to decedents where cause of death included at least one opioid. The study found that 46.9% of decedents were female and 79.1% were ages 25–54. The majority (89.2%) of decedents suffered from pain, 93.2% of which was reported to be chronic pain. Sixty-three percent (63.2%) were unemployed in the last two months of life and 29.2% were uninsured at the time of death. Substance abuse problems during the last two-months of life were reported in 44.8% of decedents, 53.1% of decedents had ever received treatment for substance abuse, and 25.3% were reported to have used prescription pain medication for reasons other than to treat pain in the year prior to death. Over half (54.3%) of decedents had been diagnosed with a mental illness. Medical providers should assess abuse history and mental status and carefully monitor patients with risk factors for opioid abuse and drug-related fatality. Providers should use screening tools that have been shown to be effective in identifying risk for complications of opioid medications.

Funding: CDC funded part of this study