Table 1. Characteristics of individuals included in the study.
| Variable | Level | Number (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 13,609 (100.0) | |
| Age at death | Median [IQR] | 42 [35–49] |
| Mean [SD] | 41.9 [10.0] | |
| Sex | Male | 9,765 (71.8) |
| Female | 3,844 (28.2) | |
| Ethnicity* | White British, White Irish, or Other White | 12,437 (91.4) |
| Asian or Asian British | 193 (1.4) | |
| Other | 145 (1.1) | |
| Black or Black British | 133 (1.0) | |
| Mixed | 99 (0.7) | |
| Unknown | 602 (4.4) | |
| Deprivation (IMD) | 1: Most deprived | 6,067 (44.6) |
| 2 | 3,370 (24.8) | |
| 3 | 1,940 (14.3) | |
| 4 | 1,328 (9.8) | |
| 5: Least deprived | 790 (5.8) | |
| Missing | 114 (0.8) | |
| Year of death | 2010–2011 | 2,127 (15.6) |
| 2012–2013 | 2,442 (17.9) | |
| 2014–2015 | 3,094 (22.7) | |
| 2016–2017 | 3,323 (24.4) | |
| 2018–2019 | 2,623 (19.3) | |
| Geographical region | North West | 2,550 (18.7) |
| South East | 1,894 (13.9) | |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 1,636 (12.0) | |
| South West | 1,384 (10.2) | |
| West Midlands | 1,356 (10.0) | |
| London | 1,236 (9.1) | |
| East of England | 1,184 (8.7) | |
| North East | 1,112 (8.2) | |
| East Midlands | 798 (5.9) | |
| Missing | 459 (3.4) | |
| Proximity in time to hospital admission | Died in hospital (admitted after opioid use) | 656 (4.8) |
| Died in hospital (admitted for other reasons) | 236 (1.7) | |
| Died in the 14 days after discharge | 1,088 (8.0) | |
| Not in hospital or within 2 weeks of discharge | 11,629 (85.5) |
* Ethnicity is derived from the hospital data. Where a participant had hospital admissions with different recorded ethnic categories, we used the most commonly recorded category or the most recent category where multiple categories had the same frequency.
IMD, Index of Multiple Deprivation, derived from the Lower Super Output Area of the patient’s home address; IQR, interquartile range.