Table 1.
Characteristics of Veterans who died from prescription opioid overdose, overall and stratified by active opioid medications prescribed in VA or Medicare Part D on the day of death and within 30 days of death, 2012–2013.
| Characteristics of Decedentsa | Prescription opioid overdose deaths among Veterans, n (%) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Active opioid prescription on exact day of deathb | Active opioid prescription within 30 days of deathb | |||||
| No | Yes | No | Yes | ||||
| 1181 | 538 (45.6) | 643 (54.4)c | P-value | 446 (37.8) | 735 (62.2)d | P-value | |
| Age in years median (Q1, Q3) | 54 (44,60) | 52 (41,60) | 55 (47,60) | < 0.001 | 51 (40,59) | 55 (47,61) | < 0.001 |
| Age category, years | |||||||
| 18–39 | 218 (18.5) | 121 (22.5) | 97 (15.1) | < 0.001 | 108 (24.2) | 110 (15.0) | < 0.001 |
| 40–64 | 851 (72.2) | 369 (68.6) | 482 (75.2) | 304 (68.2) | 547 (74.6) | ||
| 65+ | 110 (9.3) | 48 (8.9) | 62 (9.7) | 34 (7.6) | 76 (10.4) | ||
| Male sex | 1041 (88.2) | 475 (88.3) | 566 (88.0) | 0.93 | 391 (87.7) | 650 (88.4) | 0.71 |
| Race and ethnicity | |||||||
| Non-Hispanic White | 943 (83.8) | 401 (81.7) | 542 (85.4) | 0.25 | 327 (81.6) | 616 (85.0) | 0.28 |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 103 (9.2) | 50 (10.2) | 53 (8.3) | 40 (10.0) | 63 (8.7) | ||
| Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Other | 80 (7.1) | 40 (8.1) | 40 (6.3) | 34 (8.5) | 46 (6.3) | ||
| Region of residence | |||||||
| Northeast | 159 (13.5) | 85 (15.9) | 74 (11.6) | 0.03 | 69 (15.5) | 90 (12.3) | 0.09 |
| Midwest | 220 (18.7) | 88 (16.4) | 132 (20.6) | 74 (16.7) | 146 (20.0) | ||
| South | 458 (39.0) | 219 (40.9) | 239 (37.3) | 184 (41.4) | 274 (37.4) | ||
| West | 339 (28.8) | 144 (26.9) | 195 (30.5) | 117 (26.4) | 222 (30.3) | ||
| Rurality of residence | |||||||
| Large Metropolitan | 552 (46.9) | 267 (49.8) | 285 (44.5) | 0.30 | 219 (49.3) | 333 (45.5) | 0.60 |
| Small metropolitan | 442 (37.6) | 192 (35.8) | 250 (39.1) | 159 (35.8) | 283 (38.7) | ||
| Micropolitan | 101 (8.6) | 41 (7.7) | 60 (9.4) | 35 (7.9) | 66 (9.0) | ||
| Noncore rural | 81 (6.9) | 36 (6.7) | 45 (7.0) | 31 (7.0) | 50 (6.8) | ||
| Dual enrollment 12 months prior to deathe | 216 (18.3) | 59 (11.0) | 157 (24.4) | < 0.001 | 42 (9.4) | 174 (23.7) | < 0.001 |
| Driving distance to nearest VA, median miles, (Q1,Q3) | 9 (4,19) | 9 (4,18) | 10 (5,20) | 0.10 | 9 (4,18) | 0 (5,20) | 0.29 |
| Documented co-occurring substance used f | |||||||
| Alcohol | 134 (11.4) | 83 (15.4) | 51 (7.9) | < 0.001 | 70 (15.7) | 64 (8.7) | < 0.001 |
| Heroin | 74 (6.3) | 54 (10.0) | 20 (3.1) | < 0.001 | 42 (9.4) | 32 (4.4) | < 0.001 |
| Cocaine | 81 (6.9) | 45 (9.0) | 36 (5.6) | 0.07 | 40 (9.0) | 41 (5.6) | 0.03 |
| Unspecified drugs | 485 (41.1) | 216 (40.2) | 269 (41.8) | 0.55 | 180 (40.4) | 305 (41.5) | 0.71 |
Abbreviations: Q1 = first quartile, Q3 = third quartile.
Missing data: age (n = 2), race (n = 55), region (n = 5), rurality (n = 5), driving distance (n = 2).
We used Fisher's Exact test for categorical variables and ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests for continuous variables.
Measured at or relative to date of death. Numbers represent column percent unless otherwise noted.
Measured using both VA and Medicare data.
Includes 3 Veterans who were on buprenorphine/naloxone only.
Includes 4 Veterans who were on buprenorphine/naloxone only.
Veterans continuously enrolled in both VA and Medicare Part D a year before death.
Other categories of co-occurring substances were not reportable due to small sample sizes.