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. 2018 Mar 30;67(12):349–358. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6712a1

TABLE 3. Annual number and age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths* involving cocaine and psychostimulants with abuse potential,§, by sex, age, race and Hispanic origin,** urbanization level,†† and selected states§§ — United States, 2015 and 2016.

Decedent characteristic Cocaine
Psychostimulants with abuse potential
2015
2016
Change from 2015 to 2016¶¶
2015
2016
Change from 2015 to 2016¶¶
No. Rate No. Rate Absolute rate change % Change in rate No. Rate No. Rate Absolute rate change % Change in rate
All
6,784
2.1
10,375
3.2
1.1***
52.4***
5,716
1.8
7,542
2.4
0.6***
33.3***
Sex
Male
4,885
3.1
7,493
4.7
1.6***
51.6***
3,971
2.5
5,348
3.4
0.9***
36.0***
Female
1,899
1.2
2,882
1.8
0.6***
50.0***
1,745
1.1
2,194
1.4
0.3***
27.3***
Age group (yrs)
0–14
†††
†††
†††
†††
†††
†††
11
†††
11
†††
†††
†††
15–24
442
1.0
757
1.7
0.7***
70.0***
416
0.9
571
1.3
0.4***
44.4***
25–34
1,571
3.6
2,525
5.7
2.1***
58.3***
1,307
3.0
1,762
3.9
0.9***
30.0***
35–44
1,549
3.8
2,431
6.0
2.2***
57.9***
1,357
3.3
1,831
4.5
1.2***
36.4***
45–54
1,861
4.3
2,629
6.1
1.8***
41.9***
1,513
3.5
1,914
4.5
1.0***
28.6***
55–64
1,166
2.9
1,721
4.2
1.3***
44.8***
946
2.3
1,244
3.0
0.7***
30.4***
≥65
194
0.4
303
0.6
0.2***
50.0***
164
0.3
206
0.4
0.1***
33.3***
Sex and age group (yrs)
Male
15–24
303
1.3
553
2.5
1.2***
92.3***
259
1.2
388
1.7
0.5***
41.7***
25–44
2,238
5.3
3,569
8.3
3.0***
56.6***
1,853
4.4
2,536
5.9
1.5***
34.1***
45–64
2,181
5.3
3,108
7.6
2.3***
43.4***
1,714
4.2
2,251
5.5
1.3***
31.0***
Female
15–24
139
0.7
204
1.0
0.3***
42.9***
157
0.7
183
0.9
0.2***
28.6***
25–44
882
2.1
1,387
3.3
1.2***
57.1***
811
1.9
1,057
2.5
0.6***
31.6***
45–64
846
2.0
1,242
2.9
0.9***
45.0***
745
1.7
907
2.1
0.4***
23.5***
Race and Hispanic origin**
White, non-Hispanic
4,225
2.2
6,443
3.4
1.2***
54.5***
4,324
2.2
5,777
3.0
0.8***
36.4***
Black, non-Hispanic
1,690
4.0
2,599
6.1
2.1***
52.5***
316
0.8
477
1.2
0.4***
50.0***
Hispanic
697
1.3
1,097
2.0
0.7***
53.8***
725
1.4
846
1.5
0.1
7.1
AI/AN, non-Hispanic
43
1.6
56
2.1
0.5
31.3
142
5.4
181
6.9
1.5***
27.8***
A/PI, non-Hispanic
61
0.3
85
0.4
0.1
33.3
149
0.7
171
0.8
0.1
14.3
County urbanization level††
Large central metro
2,786
2.7
4,301
4.2
1.5***
55.6***
2,003
2.0
2,561
2.5
0.5***
25.0***
Large fringe metro
1,617
2.1
2,734
3.5
1.4***
66.7***
909
1.2
1,235
1.6
0.4***
33.3***
Medium metro
1,462
2.3
2,082
3.2
0.9***
39.1***
1,378
2.1
1,821
2.8
0.7***
33.3***
Small metro
419
1.5
569
2.1
0.6***
40.0***
533
2.0
698
2.6
0.6***
30.0***
Micropolitan (nonmetro)
360
1.4
474
1.9
0.5***
35.7***
517
2.0
745
3.0
1.0***
50.0***
Noncore (nonmetro)
140
0.9
215
1.3
0.4***
44.4***
376
2.3
482
2.9
0.6***
26.1***
Selected states§§
States with very good to excellent reporting (n = 25)
Alaska
†††
†††
15
†††
†††
†††
27
3.5
49
6.3
2.8
80.0
Connecticut
166
4.7
237
6.9
2.2***
46.8***
22
0.6
25
0.7
0.1
16.7
District of Columbia
33
4.9
89
13.5
8.6***
175.5***
†††
†††
†††
†††
†††
†††
Georgia
159
1.5
209
2.0
0.5***
33.3***
220
2.2
243
2.4
0.2
9.1
Illinois
332
2.5
507
4.0
1.5***
60.0***
60
0.5
112
0.9
0.4***
80.0***
Iowa
17
†††
15
†††
†††
†††
63
2.2
80
2.7
0.5
22.7
Maine
32
2.8
61
5.0
2.2***
78.6***
21
1.7
28
2.3
0.6
35.3
Maryland
143
2.3
314
5.0
2.7***
117.4***
26
0.4
43
0.8
0.4
100.0
Massachusetts
402
6.1
567
8.5
2.4***
39.3***
43
0.6
45
0.7
0.1
16.7
Nevada
40
1.3
37
1.2
-0.1
-7.7
172
5.7
228
7.5
1.8***
31.6***
New Hampshire
47
4.1
61
5.0
0.9
22.0
†††
†††
13
†††
†††
†††
New Mexico
51
2.6
58
3.0
0.4
15.4
119
6.1
135
7.1
1.0
16.4
New York
634
3.1
991
4.9
1.8***
58.1***
80
0.4
150
0.8
0.4***
100.0***
North Carolina
314
3.2
500
5.1
1.9***
59.4***
67
0.7
115
1.2
0.5***
71.4***
Ohio
698
6.3
1,124
10.1
3.8***
60.3***
105
1.0
243
2.3
1.3***
130.0***
Oklahoma
29
0.7
31
0.8
0.1
14.3
199
5.3
263
7.1
1.8***
34.0***
Oregon
22
0.6
26
0.7
0.1
16.7
124
3.1
150
3.6
0.5
16.1
Rhode Island
87
8.3
112
10.7
2.4
28.9
11
†††
10
†††
†††
†††
South Carolina
116
2.4
143
3.0
0.6
25.0
87
1.9
125
2.7
0.8
42.1
Tennessee
202
3.0
249
3.8
0.8***
26.7***
113
1.8
186
2.9
1.1***
61.1***
Utah
44
1.5
48
1.7
0.2
13.3
147
5.2
143
5.1
-0.1
-1.9
Vermont
14
†††
21
4.0
†††
†††
†††
†††
†††
†††
†††
†††
Virginia
168
2.0
254
3.0
1.0***
50.0***
55
0.7
76
0.9
0.2
28.6
Washington
85
1.1
90
1.2
0.1
9.1
304
4.2
326
4.4
0.2
4.8
West Virginia
94
5.6
143
8.5
2.9***
51.8***
65
3.9
117
7.0
3.1***
79.5***
States with good reporting (n = 7)
Arizona
62
0.9
82
1.2
0.3
33.3
333
5.1
454
6.7
1.6***
31.4***
Colorado
60
1.0
106
1.9
0.9***
90.0***
140
2.6
200
3.6
1.0***
38.5***
Hawaii
†††
†††
†††
†††
†††
†††
87
5.9
102
6.8
0.9
15.3
Minnesota
42
0.7
43
0.8
0.1
14.3
82
1.5
140
2.6
1.1***
73.3***
Missouri
77
1.3
103
1.8
0.5
38.5
133
2.4
185
3.3
0.9***
37.5***
Texas
470
1.7
584
2.1
0.4***
23.5***
454
1.7
577
2.1
0.4***
23.5***
Wisconsin 115 2.0 147 2.6 0.6*** 30.0*** 38 0.7 76 1.4 0.7*** 100.0***

Source: National Vital Statistics System, Mortality file.

Abbreviations: A/PI = Asian/Pacific Islander; AI/AN = American Indian/Alaska Native.

* Deaths are classified using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). Drug overdose deaths are identified using underlying cause-of-death codes X40–X44, X60–X64, X85, and Y10–Y14. Rates are age-adjusted using the direct method and the 2000 U.S. standard population, except for age-specific crude rates. All rates are per 100,000 population.

Drug overdose deaths, as defined, that have cocaine (T40.5) as a contributing cause.

§ Drug overdose deaths, as defined, that have psychostimulants with abuse potential (T43.6) as a contributing cause.

Categories of deaths are not exclusive because deaths may involve more than one drug. Summing of categories will result in greater than the total number of deaths in a year.

** Data for Hispanic origin should be interpreted with caution; studies comparing Hispanic origin on death certificates and on census surveys have shown inconsistent reporting on Hispanic ethnicity. Potential race misclassification might lead to underestimates for certain categories, primarily AI/AN non-Hispanic and A/PI non-Hispanic decedents. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_02/sr02_172.pdf.

†† By 2013 urbanization classification. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/urban_rural.htm.

§§ Analyses were limited to states meeting the following criteria: For states with very good to excellent reporting, ≥90% of drug overdose deaths mention at least one specific drug in 2015, with the change in drug overdose deaths mentioning at least one specific drug differing by <10 percentage points from 2015 to 2016. States with good reporting had 80% to <90% of drug overdose deaths mention of at least one specific drug in 2015, with the change in the percentage of drug overdose deaths mentioning at least one specific drug differing by <10 percentage points from 2015 to 2016. States included also were required to have stable rate estimates, based on ≥20 deaths, in at least two drug categories (i.e., opioids, prescription opioids, synthetic opioids other than methadone, heroin, cocaine, and psychostimulants with abuse potential). South Dakota was the only state with good or excellent reporting in both years, but with an improvement >10 percentage points in drug specificity.

¶¶ Absolute rate change is the difference between 2015 and 2016 rates. Percent change is the absolute rate change divided by the 2015 rate, multiplied by 100. Nonoverlapping confidence intervals based on the gamma method were used if the number of deaths was <100 in 2015 or 2016, and z-tests were used if the number of deaths was ≥100 in both 2015 and 2016.

*** Statistically significant at 0.05 level.

††† Cells with ≤9 deaths are not reported. Rates based on <20 deaths are not considered reliable and not reported.