TABLE.
Annual number of deaths and death rates* from overdoses of heroin or prescription opioid pain relievers (OPRs), by selected characteristics — 28 states, 2008–2012
| Year | Change from 2010 to 2012† | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Characteristic | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | Absolute rate change | % change |
| No. of drug overdose deaths§ overall | 21,922 | 22,787 | 22,472 | 23,792 | 23,732 | — | — |
| Heroin | 1,786 | 2,058 | 1,779 | 2,679 | 3,635 | — | — |
| OPR | 9,480 | 10,303 | 10,427 | 10,393 | 9,869 | — | — |
| Drug overdose death rates overall | 12.9 | 13.3 | 13.0 | 13.7 | 13.6 | 0.6 | 4.3 |
| Heroin¶ | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 101.7 |
| OPR** | 5.6 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 5.6 | −0.4 | −6.6 |
| Sex | |||||||
| Male | |||||||
| Heroin | 1.7 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 3.3 | 1.7 | 99.0 |
| OPR | 7.0 | 7.3 | 7.4 | 7.1 | 6.5 | −0.9 | −12.4 |
| Female | |||||||
| Heroin | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 110.9 |
| OPR | 4.2 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 0.1 | 2.2 |
| Age group (yrs) | |||||||
| 15–24 | |||||||
| Heroin | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 86.3 |
| OPR | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 3.1 | −1.2 | −28.1 |
| 25–34 | |||||||
| Heroin | 2.2 | 2.7 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 5.1 | 2.7 | 109.1 |
| OPR | 8.6 | 9.2 | 9.8 | 9.5 | 8.4 | −1.4 | −14.5 |
| 35–44 | |||||||
| Heroin | 1.8 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 3.5 | 1.7 | 92.6 |
| OPR | 9.7 | 10.6 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 9.9 | −0.6 | −5.9 |
| 45–54 | |||||||
| Heroin | 1.8 | 2.1 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 3.2 | 1.8 | 119.6 |
| OPR | 12.0 | 12.5 | 12.2 | 12.3 | 11.9 | −0.3 | −2.5 |
| 55–64 | |||||||
| Heroin | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 102.1 |
| OPR | 5.2 | 6.4 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 7.3 | 0.6 | 8.7 |
| Race/Ethnicity †† | |||||||
| White, non-Hispanic | |||||||
| Heroin | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 101.9 |
| OPR | 6.9 | 7.4 | 7.6 | 7.5 | 7.0 | −0.6 | −8.0 |
| White, Hispanic | |||||||
| Heroin | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 102.6 |
| OPR | 2.8 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 0.0 | −0.6 |
| Black | |||||||
| Heroin | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 89.3 |
| OPR | 1.8 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 0.1 | 2.7 |
| American Indian/Alaska Native | |||||||
| Heroin | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 63.9 |
| OPR | 6.2 | 7.1 | 6.0 | 6.2 | 6.2 | 0.3 | 4.5 |
| U.S. Census region §§ | |||||||
| Northeast | |||||||
| Heroin | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 1.9 | 211.2 |
| OPR | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 0.3 | 7.5 |
| Midwest | |||||||
| Heroin | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 62.1 |
| OPR | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.1 | −0.2 | −4.7 |
| West | |||||||
| Heroin | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 90.7 |
| OPR | 8.2 | 8.5 | 7.9 | 8.2 | 7.9 | 0.1 | 0.7 |
| South | |||||||
| Heroin | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 180.9 |
| OPR | 6.9 | 7.6 | 7.9 | 7.2 | 6.6 | −1.3 | −16.3 |
Crude rate per 100,000 population. Based on bridged-race population estimates for 28 states, available at http://wonder.cdc.gov/bridged-race-v2012.html. Because deaths might involve both heroin and OPRs, some deaths are included in both categories.
Change is in bold if statistically significant (p<0.05). Rate and percentage change might not match calculations based on table data because of rounding.
Deaths with underlying causes of unintentional drug poisoning (X40–X44), suicide drug poisoning (X60–X64), homicide drug poisoning (X85), or drug poisoning of undetermined intent (Y10–Y14), as coded in the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision.
Drug overdose deaths, as defined, that had heroin (T40.1) as a contributing cause.
Drug overdose deaths, as defined, that had other opioids (T40.2), methadone (T40.3), or other synthetic narcotics (T40.4) as contributing causes.
Persons of black and American Indian/Alaska Native race include Hispanic and non-Hispanic ethnicity. Persons of other races/ethnicities or with missing race information on the death certificate are not included.
Northeast: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island. Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio. West: Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington. South: Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia.