An Overlooked Emergency: More than 4 in 10 U.S. Adults Are Negatively Affected by Drug Overdose Deaths
Year: 2023
Type: preprint
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Objective: To determine the prevalence estimate of U.S. adults who knew someone who experienced a fatal drug overdose and how disruptive these were.Methods: Wave 14 (February-March 2023) of the online RAND American Life Panel, a longstanding nationally representative survey of 2,072 U.S. adults aged 18 and older was utilized with the addition of new questions about knowing someone who died of a drug overdose.Results: In weighted analyses, 42.4% of respondents reported knowing at least one person who died by overdose with a mean number of 2.88 for those who knew anyone who had overdosed. More than a third reported the overdose disrupted their lives to some degree.Conclusions: A large proportion of American adults have been exposed to the overdose death of someone with whom they had a personal relationship. The accelerating rate of overdose deaths have likely increased the number of people bereaved. Policy implications: It is necessary to determine intervention and support needs after overdose deaths as may have an impact on future overdoses and mental health concerns in this population.
Authors: Alison Athey, Beau Kilmer, Julie Cerel
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4377139363