Adolescent drug overdose deaths rose exponentially for the first time in history during the COVID pandemic

Date:
April 12, 2022
Source:
University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
Summary:
The rate of overdose deaths among U.S. teenagers nearly doubled in
2020, the first year of the COVID pandemic, and rose another 20%
in the first half of 2021 compared with the 10 years before the
pandemic, even as drug use remained generally stable during the
same period.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
The rate of overdose deaths among U.S. teenagers nearly doubled in 2020,
the first year of the COVID pandemic, and rose another 20% in the first
half of 2021 compared with the 10 years before the pandemic, even as
drug use remained generally stable during the same period, according to
new UCLA research.


==========================================================================
This is the first time in recorded history that the teen drug death
rate has seen an exponential rise, even though rates of illicit drug
use among teens are at all-time lows, said lead author Joseph Friedman,
an addiction researcher and M.D. and Ph.D. candidate at the David Geffen
School of Medicine at UCLA.

"Drug use is becoming more dangerous, not more common," Friedman
said. "The increases are almost entirely due to illicit fentanyls,
which are increasingly found in counterfeit pills. These counterfeit
pills are spreading across the nation, and teens may not realize they
are dangerous." The study is published in JAMA.

The researchers used the CDC WONDER (Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research) database
to calculate drug overdose deaths per 100,000 population for adolescents
aged 14 to 18 years that occurred from January 2010 to June 2021.

They found 518 deaths, or a rate of 2.4 per 100,000, among adolescents in
2010, and a steady rate of 492 deaths (2.36 per 100,000) each subsequent
year through 2019. In 2020, there was a sharp increase to 954 deaths (4.57
per 100,000), rising to 1,146 deaths (5.49 per 100,000) in early 2021.



========================================================================== Broken down by ethnicity and race:
* Among American Indian/Alaska Natives, there were 11 deaths (4.86 per
100,000) in 2010 14 (6.88) through 2019, 16 (7.87) in 2020, and 24
(11.79) in 2021
* Among Black/African Americans, the numbers were 24 (0.70 per
100,000) in
2010, 46 (1.49) through 2019, 114 (3.69) in 2020, and 96 (3.10)
in 2021
* Among Latinos, they were 62 (1.38) in 2010, 136 (2.68) through
2019, 276
(5.35) in 2020, and 354 (6.98) in 2021
* Among whites, they were 412 (3.32) in 2010, 281 (2.50) through
2019, 521
(4.67) in 2020, and 604 (5.36) in 2021.

A small number of individuals were from racial/ethnic groups that were
not listed in the paper, or simply had missing racial/ethnicity details,
which accounts for the discrepancy between the totals for deaths and
rates and the racial/ethnic breakdown.

Fake versions of prescription drugs such as Xanax, Percocet and Vicodin,
whose strength can fluctuate, also contributed toward the increase in
overdose deaths, Friedman noted.

"Teens urgently need to be informed about this rising danger," Friedman
said.

"Accurate information about the risk of drugs needs to be presented
in schools.

Teens need to know that pills and powders are the highest risk for
overdose, as they are most likely to contain illicit fentanyls. Pills and powders can be tested for the presence of fentanyls using testing strips,
which are becoming more widely available." In addition, education and
access to naloxone, which can reverse overdoses, are needed in schools
and places frequented by teens, he said.

The findings are limited by some factors. Among them, the observational
nature of the study's design cannot establish causality, race and
ethnicity may have been incorrectly assigned, 2021 results were
provisional and included scaled values from January to June, and there
were small numbers in some of the groups studied. Also, the role of
suicidal ideation, social isolation and other factors unique to the
pandemic could not be established.

The UCLA Medical Scientist Training Program, the National Institute on
Drug Abuse (K01-DA050771), and the Korein Foundation funded this research.

Study co-authors are Chelsea Shover, Dr. Helena Hansen, and Dr. David
Schriger of UCLA; Morgan Godvin of the Local Public Safety Coordinating
Council in Portland, Oregon; and Joseph Gone of Harvard University.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_California_-_Los_Angeles_Health_Sciences.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Joseph Friedman, Morgan Godvin, Chelsea L. Shover, Joseph P. Gone,
Helena
Hansen, David L. Schriger. Trends in Drug Overdose Deaths Among
US Adolescents, January 2010 to June 2021. JAMA, 2022; 327 (14):
1398 DOI: 10.1001/jama.2022.2847 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220412141006.htm

--- up 6 weeks, 1 day, 10 hours, 50 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)