Table 2.
All cause and drug related mortality among recipients of opioid agonist treatment (OAT) according to key patient strata: British Columbia, Canada, 1 January 1996 to 30 September 2018
| Characteristic | Person years of follow-up | All cause | Drug related* | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No of deaths | CMR† (95% CI) | SMR (95% CI) | No of deaths | CMR† (95% CI) | |||
| Overall | 400 817 | 7030 | 17.5 (17.1 to 18.0) | 7.2 (7.1 to 7.4) | 2184 | 5.4 (5.2 to 5.7) | |
| Female sex | 142 864 | 2274 | 15.9 (15.3 to 16.6) | 9.9 (9.5 to 10.3) | 668 | 4.7 (4.3 to 5.0) | |
| Male sex | 257 906 | 4756 | 18.4 (17.9 to 19.0) | 6.4 (6.2 to 6.6) | 1516 | 5.9 (5.6 to 6.2) | |
| OAT status: | |||||||
| On OAT | 202 315 | 2197 | 10.9 (10.4 to 11.3) | 4.6 (4.4 to 4.8) | 429 | 2.1 (1.9 to 2.3) | |
| Buprenorphine/naloxone | 13 190 | 87 | 6.6 (5.3 to 8.1) | 2.9 (2.3 to 3.6) | 26 | 2.0 (1.3 to 2.9) | |
| Methadone | 188 113 | 2085 | 11.1 (10.6 to 11.6) | 4.7 (4.5 to 4.9) | 398 | 2.1 (1.9 to 2.3) | |
| Off OAT | 198 502 | 4833 | 24.3 (23.7 to 25.0) | 9.7 (9.5 to 10.0) | 1755 | 8.8 (8.4 to 9.3) | |
| Buprenorphine/naloxone | 23 712 | 570 | 24.0 (22.1 to 26.1) | 11.3 (10.4 to 12.2) | 269 | 11.3 (10.0 to 12.8) | |
| Methadone | 174 431 | 4237 | 24.3 (23.6 to 25.0) | 9.5 (9.3 to 9.8) | 1482 | 8.5 (8.1 to 8.9) | |
| Age group: | |||||||
| <20 years | x | x | 5.3 (3.0 to 8.7) | 15.0 (8.6 to 24.4) | x | 3.0 (1.4 to 5.7) | |
| 20-24 years | 22 579 | 187 | 8.3 (7.1 to 9.6) | 13.1 (11.3 to 15.1) | 106 | 4.7 (3.8 to 5.7) | |
| 25-34 years | 107 219 | 986 | 9.2 (8.6 to 9.8) | 10.8 (10.2 to 11.5) | 495 | 4.6 (4.2 to 5.0) | |
| 35-44 years | 122 003 | 1510 | 12.4 (11.8 to 13.0) | 9.5 (9.0 to 10.0) | 646 | 5.3 (4.9 to 5.7) | |
| 45-54 years | 95 300 | 1981 | 20.8 (19.9 to 21.7) | 7.5 (7.2 to 7.9) | 620 | 6.5 (6.0 to 7.0) | |
| >54 years | 50 670 | 2350 | 46.4 (44.5 to 48.3) | 5.3 (5.1 to 5.5) | 308 | 6.1 (5.4 to 6.8) | |
| Alcohol use disorder‡: | |||||||
| No | 293 181 | 4175 | 14.2 (13.8 to 14.7) | 5.8 (5.7 to 6.0) | 1293 | 4.4 (4.2 to 4.7) | |
| Yes | 107 636 | 2855 | 26.5 (25.6 to 27.5) | 11.1 (10.7 to 11.5) | 891 | 8.3 (7.7 to 8.8) | |
| Substance use disorder§: | |||||||
| No | 68 692 | 889 | 12.9 (12.1 to 13.8) | 3.8 (3.6 to 4.1) | 48 | 0.7 (0.5 to 0.9) | |
| Yes | 332 125 | 6141 | 18.5 (18.0 to 19.0) | 8.3 (8.1 to 8.5) | 2136 | 6.4 (6.2 to 6.7) | |
| Mental ill health¶: | |||||||
| No | 75 448 | 1240 | 16.4 (15.5 to 17.4) | 6.5 (6.2 to 6.9) | 332 | 4.4 (3.9 to 4.9) | |
| Yes | 325 369 | 5790 | 17.8 (17.3 to 18.3) | 7.4 (7.2 to 7.6) | 1852 | 5.7 (5.4 to 6.0) | |
| Chronic pain**: | |||||||
| No | 122 329 | 1796 | 14.7 (14.0 to 15.4) | 7.6 (7.2 to 7.9) | 597 | 4.9 (4.5 to 5.3) | |
| Yes | 278 489 | 5234 | 18.8 (18.3 to 19.3) | 7.1 (6.9 to 7.3) | 1587 | 5.7 (5.4 to 6.0) | |
| Hepatitis C virus: | |||||||
| Unknown/no†† | 366 602 | 5098 | 13.9 (13.5 to 14.3) | 6.0 (5.8 to 6.1) | 1824 | 5.0 (4.7 to 5.2) | |
| Yes | 34 215 | 1932 | 56.5 (54.0 to 59.0) | 16.5 (15.8 to 17.2) | 360 | 10.5 (9.5 to 11.7) | |
| HIV: | |||||||
| Unknown/no†† | 378 852 | 6043 | 16.0 (15.6 to 16.4) | 6.5 (6.4 to 6.7) | 1933 | 5.1 (4.9 to 5.3) | |
| Yes | 21 966 | 987 | 44.9 (42.2 to 47.8) | 20.7 (19.4 to 22.0) | 251 | 11.4 (10.1 to 12.9) | |
CMR=crude mortality rate; SMR: standardised mortality ratio; x=suppressed due to cell size <10.
Drug misuse or accidental drug poisoning (see appendix table A4).
Per 1000 person years.
See appendix table A5 for ICD-9/ICD-10 codes used to identify concurrent chronic conditions.
Any indication of non-opioid and non-alcohol drug use, poisoning (accidental or intentional), or substance use counselling or rehabilitation.
Any indication of depression, anxiety, psychotic illness, personality disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders, or bipolar disorders.
Non-cancer chronic pain.
Data linkage to provincial HIV and hepatitis C virus testing databases not available.