TABLE. Demographic characteristics of persons who died from opioid overdose and overdose circumstance factors by substance type — 11 states, July 1, 2016─June 30, 2017.
| Characteristic | Type of opioid(s) detected |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Prescription opioids only
N = 2,066 (17.4%) |
Illicit opioids only
N = 6,975 (58.7%) |
Prescription and illicit opioids
N = 2,194 (18.5%) |
|
| No. (%) | No. (%) | No. (%) | |
|
Type of opioid(s) contributing to death*
| |||
| Prescription opioids only |
2,066 (100.0) |
—† |
22 (1.0) |
| Illicit opioids only |
—† |
6,975 (100.0) |
873 (39.8) |
| Both illicit and prescription opioids |
—† |
—† |
1,299 (59.2) |
|
Age group (yrs)
§
| |||
| 15–24 |
79 (3.8) |
714 (10.2) |
130 (5.9) |
| 25–34 |
307 (14.9) |
2,346 (33.6) |
608 (27.7) |
| 35–44 |
500 (24.2) |
1,825 (26.2) |
635 (28.9) |
| 45–54 |
621 (30.1) |
1,298 (18.6) |
485 (22.1) |
| 55–64 |
456 (22.1) |
708 (10.2) |
291 (13.3) |
| ≥65 |
103 (5.0) |
84 (1.2) |
45 (2.1) |
| Median age (interquartile range) in years¶ |
47 (37–55) |
36 (29–47) |
39 (32–50) |
|
Sex
§
| |||
| Male |
1,013 (49.0) |
5,089 (73.0) |
1,546 (70.5) |
| Female |
1,053 (51.0) |
1,886 (27.0) |
648 (29.5) |
|
Race and Hispanic origin
§
| |||
| White, non-Hispanic |
1,780 (86.2) |
5,657 (81.1) |
1,833 (83.6) |
| Black, non-Hispanic |
100 (4.8) |
685 (9.8) |
206 (9.4) |
| Other, non-Hispanic |
51 (2.5) |
88 (1.3) |
16 (0.7) |
| Hispanic |
100 (4.8) |
421 (6.0) |
112 (5.1) |
|
Route of administration
| |||
| Evidence of injection§ |
136 (6.6) |
3,428 (49.2) |
958 (43.7) |
| No evidence of injection; evidence of other route§ |
783 (37.9) |
1,194 (17.1) |
382 (17.4) |
| Evidence of snorting§ |
85 (10.9) |
743 (62.2) |
210 (55.0) |
| Evidence of ingestion§ |
669 (85.4) |
416 (34.8) |
211 (55.2) |
| Evidence of smoking§ |
34 (4.3) |
251 (21.0) |
54 (14.1) |
| Evidence of transdermal |
65 (8.3) |
—† |
—† |
| No evidence of route§ |
1,147 (55.5) |
2,353 (33.7) |
854 (38.9) |
|
Other substance(s) detected
| |||
| Cocaine§,** |
207 (10.0) |
2,432 (34.9) |
763 (34.8) |
| Methamphetamines§ |
155 (7.5) |
737 (10.6) |
277 (12.6) |
| Benzodiazepines§ |
1,065 (51.6) |
1,676 (24.0) |
976 (44.5) |
| Gabapentin§ |
447 (21.6) |
564 (8.1) |
326 (14.9) |
|
Released from an institution 1 month before death
| |||
| Released from any institutional setting§ |
140 (6.8) |
726 (10.4) |
200 (9.1) |
| Released from jail, prison, or detention facility§ |
22 (1.1) |
343 (4.9) |
67 (3.1) |
| Released from residential alcohol or substance use treatment facility§ |
22 (1.1) |
216 (3.2) |
53 (2.5) |
| Released from a hospital§ |
81 (4.1) |
107 (1.6) |
54 (2.6) |
|
Previous drug overdose
§
|
193 (9.3) |
1,053 (15.1) |
297 (13.5) |
|
Died when bystander was present
|
860 (41.6) |
3,072 (44.0) |
987 (45.0) |
| Naloxone administered by layperson §, †† | 8 (0.8) | 169 (4.3) | 52 (4.4) |
* By definition, for the categories of “only prescription opioids” and “only illicit opioids” detected, the contributing opioid type could only be “prescription opioids only” or “illicit opioids only,” respectively. For the category of “both prescription and illicit opioids,” either prescription opioids only, illicit opioids only, or both could have contributed to death. Decedents might have tested positive for other nonopioid substances. This analysis does not distinguish between prescription drugs prescribed to the decedent and those that were diverted.
† Data suppressed because of <5 deaths, or suppressed to prohibit calculation of other suppressed cell.
§ Indicates overall chi-squared test statistic has a p-value <0.001.
¶ Statistically significant differences in mean age (p-value <0.001) were identified for prescription opioid deaths (46.3 years), illicit opioid deaths (38.4 years), and prescription and illicit (40.9 years).
** Indicates the presence of cocaine or a cocaine metabolite.
†† Among deaths for which naloxone administration status was known: 1,032 for prescription opioids only, 3,927 for illicit opioids only, and 1,173 for prescription and illicit opioids.