Table 1.
Reported and adjusted drug involvement in 2014 drug poisoning deaths.
| Drug mentions | Reported # of Deaths | Prevalence (%) | Adjusted prevalence (%) | % Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Any Involvement (T-Codes) | ||||
| Narcotics (40.0–40.9) | 30,731 | 65.3 | 82.2 [81.3–83.2] | 25.9 [24.4–27.4] |
| Opioid Analgesics (40.2–40.4) | 18,893 | 40.2 | 52.6 [50.7–54.6] | 31.1 [26.3 – 35.9] |
| Heroin (40.1) | 10,574 | 22.5 | 30.0 [28.0 –32.0] | 33.4 [24.5–42.3] |
| Cocaine (40.5) | 5415 | 11.5 | 15.2 [13.8 –16.5] | 31.7 [20.3–43.1] |
| Other Narcotics (40.0, 40.6–40.9) | 2822 | 6.0 | 7.5 [6.2–8.8] | 24.7 [2.9–46.5] |
| Sedatives (42.0–42.8) | 9308 | 19.8 | 29.2 [27.5–30.9] | 47.6 [39.0–56.1] |
| Psychotropics (43.0–43.9) | 9614 | 20.4 | 27.3 [25.5–29.1] | 33.5 [24.8–42.3] |
| Antidepressants (43.0–43.2) | 4768 | 10.1 | 14.9 [13.9–15.8] | 46.6 [37.1–56.1] |
| Antipsychotics (43.3–43.5) | 1588 | 3.4 | 5.2 [4.7–5.7] | 53.9 [38.6–69.2] |
| Psychostimulants (43.6) | 4298 | 9.1 | 11.0 [9.7–12.3] | 20.0 [5.9–34.2] |
| Other Specified (36.0–38.9, 41.0, 41.9 | 3573 | 7.6 | 10.3 [9.6–10.9] | 35.5 [26.8–44.1] |
| 44.0–48.7, 49.0–50.8) | ||||
| Unspecified (50.9) | 23,347 | 49.6 | 38.4 [35.2–41.6] | −22.6 [−29.0– −16.2] |
| Exclusive Involvement | ||||
| Opioid Analgesics | 7769 | 16.5 | 19.3 [18.1–20.5] | 17.1 [9.8–24.5] |
| Heroin | 5067 | 10.8 | 13.4 [11.9–14.8] | 24.2 [10.6–37.7] |
| Cocaine | 1747 | 3.7 | 4.3 [3.7–4.9] | 16.1 [0.7–31.5] |
| Sedatives | 814 | 1.7 | 2.1 [1.9–2.3] | 22.4 [11.6–33.2] |
| Psychotropics | 3390 | 7.2 | 7.9 [7.1–8.8] | 10.2 [-1.8−22.3] |
| Other Specified | 1476 | 3.1 | 3.5 [3.3–3.8] | 12.3 [4.0−20.6] |
| Unspecified | 9201 | 19.6 | 3.5 [3.2–3.7] | -82.2 [-83.5– −81.0] |
| >1 Drug Category | 16,187 | 34.4 | 49.3 [47.5–51.1] | 43.2 [38.0–48.4] |
Note: Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death files. Drug poisoning deaths include ICD-10 Underlying Cause of Death Codes: X40-44, X60-64, X85, Y10-14, Y35.2, *U01.6 and *U01.7) Entries in parentheses refer to ICD-10 T codes for drug mentions. >1 Drug Category refers to drug mentions of two or more of the following drug types: opioid analgesics, heroin, cocaine, other narcotics, sedatives, psychotropics and other specified drugs. Exclusive drug involvement indicates deaths where only the specified class of drugs is mentioned (but unspecified drugs could also be involved). Reported numbers of deaths and prevalences are from death certificates and indicate the percentage of drug poisonings where the specified type of drug is mentioned. Adjusted prevalences are average predicted values from probit models, where at least one specific drug is assumed to be mentioned for all poisoning deaths in the county (SPECIFY=1). Models also control for: sex, race (black, other), Hispanic origin, currently married, education (high school dropout, high school graduate, some college, college graduate), age (≤20, 21–30, 31–40, 41–50, 51–60, 61–70, 71–80, >80), day of the week of death, and census region. % Difference refers to the percentage difference between the adjusted and reported prevalences. These are calculated using more significant digits than are shown in the table, so some differences may appear due to rounding error. 95 percent confidence intervals, shown in brackets, are computed using robust standard errors with clustering at the county level.