TABLE 2. Demographic characteristics and overdose circumstance factors for decedents in opioid overdose deaths involving fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, and U-47700, by substance — 10 states, July–December 2016.
| Characteristic | Fentanyl (N = 2,903) |
Any fentanyl analog* (N = 720) |
Fentanyl analogs |
U-47700 synthetic opioid (N = 40) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carfentanil (N = 389) |
Furanylfentanyl (N = 182) |
Acetylfentanyl (N = 147) |
Other†(N = 74) |
||||
| No. (%) | No. (%) | No. (%) | No. (%) | No. (%) | No. (%) | No. (%) | |
|
Age group (yrs)
§ | |||||||
| 15–24 |
276 (9.5) |
63 (8.8) |
31 (8.0) |
—¶ |
15 (10.2) |
— |
— |
| 25–34 |
926 (31.9) |
220 (30.6) |
124 (31.9) |
50 (27.5) |
46 (31.3) |
27 (36.5) |
19 (47.5) |
| 35–44 |
768 (26.5) |
212 (29.4) |
103 (26.5) |
61 (33.5) |
48 (32.7) |
22 (29.7) |
6 (15.0) |
| 45–54 |
540 (18.6) |
133 (18.5) |
73 (18.8) |
32 (17.6) |
26 (17.7) |
9 (12.2) |
6 (15.0) |
| 55–64 |
343 (11.8) |
77 (10.7) |
50 (12.9) |
18 (9.9) |
— |
8 (10.8) |
— |
| ≥65 |
47 (1.6) |
15 (2.1) |
8 (2.1) |
— |
— |
— |
0 |
|
Median age (IQR) in yrs
|
37 (29–48) |
38 (30–48) |
39 (30–49) |
38 (31–47) |
36 (30–45) |
36 (29–46) |
32 (27–43) |
|
Sex
| |||||||
| Male |
2,080 (71.7) |
520 (72.2) |
276 (71.0) |
134 (73.6) |
111 (75.5) |
49 (66.2) |
32 (80.0) |
| Female |
820 (28.2) |
200 (27.8) |
113 (29.0) |
48 (26.4) |
36 (24.5) |
25 (33.8) |
8 (20.0) |
|
Race and Hispanic origin
| |||||||
| White, non-Hispanic |
2,360 (81.3) |
602 (83.6) |
340 (87.4) |
148 (81.3) |
120 (81.6) |
62 (83.8) |
36 (90.0) |
| Black, non-Hispanic |
274 (9.4) |
75 (10.4) |
42 (10.8) |
17 (9.3) |
9 (6.1) |
9 (12.2) |
— |
| Other, non-Hispanic |
37 (1.3) |
9 (1.3) |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| Hispanic |
189 (6.5) |
20 (2.8) |
— |
— |
— |
— |
0 |
|
Other fentanyl(s) present
| |||||||
| Fentanyl or other fentanyl analog |
n/a |
330 (45.8) |
120 (30.9) |
93 (51.1) |
143 (97.3) |
46 (62.2) |
24 (60.0) |
| Fentanyl |
n/a |
299 (41.5) |
105 (27.0) |
62 (34.1) |
139 (94.6) |
31 (41.9) |
16 (40.0) |
| 1 fentanyl analog present** |
263 (9.1) |
653 (90.7) |
352 (90.5) |
129 (70.9) |
129 (87.8) |
43 (58.1) |
12 (30.0) |
| ≥2 fentanyl analogs present |
36 (1.2) |
67 (9.3) |
37 (9.5) |
53 (29.1) |
18 (12.2) |
31 (41.9) |
6 (15.0) |
| 4-ANPP†† |
60 (2.1) |
82 (11.4) |
— |
77 (42.3) |
— |
13 (17.6) |
8 (20.0) |
|
Other illicit drugs present
| |||||||
| Any illicit drugs |
1,656 (57.0) |
369 (51.3) |
190 (48.8) |
91 (50.0) |
91 (61.9) |
42 (56.8) |
15 (37.5) |
| Suspected/Confirmed heroin§§ |
1,132 (39.0) |
250 (34.7) |
123 (31.6) |
60 (33.0) |
75 (51.0) |
26 (35.1) |
11 (27.5) |
| Cocaine |
1,011 (34.8) |
202 (28.1) |
99 (25.4) |
52 (28.6) |
43 (29.3) |
26 (35.1) |
7 (17.5) |
| Methamphetamine |
167 (5.8) |
64 (8.9) |
43 (11.1) |
12 (6.6) |
10 (6.8) |
— |
— |
|
Evidence of injection
|
1,358 (46.8) |
303 (42.1) |
151 (38.8) |
76 (41.8) |
81 (55.1) |
35 (47.3) |
19 (47.5) |
|
No evidence of injection but evidence of other route
¶¶
|
532 (18.3) |
138 (19.2) |
85 (21.9) |
33 (18.1) |
19 (12.9) |
10 (13.5) |
11 (27.5) |
| Evidence of snorting |
279 (52.4) |
95 (68.8) |
57 (67.1) |
21 (63.6) |
15 (78.9) |
9 (90.0) |
8 (72.7) |
| Evidence of ingestion |
203 (38.2) |
41 (29.7) |
27 (31.8) |
8 (24.2) |
7 (36.8) |
— |
— |
| Evidence of smoking |
95 (17.9) |
25 (18.1) |
16 (18.8) |
7 (21.2) |
— |
— |
— |
| Evidence of transdermal |
35 (6.6) |
— |
— |
0 |
— |
0 |
0 |
| Evidence of sublingual |
6 (1.1) |
— |
— |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| No evidence of route | 1,013 (34.9) | 279 (38.8) | 153 (39.3) | 73 (40.1) | 47 (32.0) | 29 (39.2) | 10 (25.0) |
Abbreviation: n/a = not applicable.
* Individual fentanyl analog deaths might sum to a number greater than the number of deaths with any fentanyl analog present because more than one fentanyl analog could be present in an opioid overdose death.
† Includes 3-methylfentanyl, acrylfentanyl, butyrylfentanyl, para-fluorofentanyl (or 4-fluorofentanyl), para-fluorobutyrylfentanyl (or 4-fluorobutyrylfentanyl), and para-fluoroisobutyrylfentanyl (or 4-fluoroisobutyrylfentanyl).
§ Fewer than five persons aged ≤14 years died of an overdose that tested positive for a fentanyl analog.
¶ Data suppressed because fewer than five deaths, or suppressed to prohibit calculation of other suppressed cell.
** For fentanyl analogs, indicates no other analog present.
†† Despropionylfentanyl is a fentanyl compound that can serve as a marker for illicitly manufactured fentanyl and fentanyl analogs because it is both a precursor and a metabolite of these illicit products (but not pharmaceutical fentanyl), while having low metabolic activity that does not contribute to overdose toxicity. Despropionylfentanyl is also known as 4-anilino-N-phenethylpiperidine, or 4-ANPP.
§§ Includes decedents testing positive for heroin metabolite 6-acetylmorphine, plus decedents testing positive for morphine where there was a history of heroin use, death scene evidence of illicit drug use, or evidence of injection, and no scene evidence of prescription drug use or other evidence of prescription morphine.
¶¶ Percentage of deaths with evidence of routes of administration other than injection calculated out of the number of deaths in this row.