2016 to 2021 Saw Increase in Drug Overdose Rates Involving Fentanyl

Increase seen in age-adjusted drug overdose death rates involving methamphetamine, cocaine; decrease reported in death rates involving oxycodone

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, May 3, 2023 (HealthDay News) — From 2016 to 2021, there was an increase in age-adjusted drug overdose death rates involving fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine, according to a May Vital Statistics Rapid Release report, a publication from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Merianne Rose Spencer, M.P.H., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues used literal text from the National Vital Statistics System to provide national drug overdose death rates involving fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and oxycodone.

The researchers found that from 2016 to 2021, there were increases in age-adjusted drug overdose death rates involving fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine, while decreases were seen in drug overdose death rates involving oxycodone. For all drugs analyzed, the age-adjusted death rates were higher for males than females. The highest rate of drug overdose deaths involved fentanyl among those aged 25 to 64 years; a similar pattern was seen for those aged 0 to 24 years and 65 years and older, but the differences in the rates were not significant. For the race and Hispanic-origin groups analyzed, fentanyl was the most frequent opioid or stimulant drug involved in drug overdose deaths. There was variation noted by region in the age-adjusted rates of drug overdose deaths. Drug overdose deaths involving fentanyl were highest in all regions except Region 8 (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming) and Region 10 (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington), where drug overdose deaths involving both fentanyl and methamphetamine were highest.

“The rate of drug overdose deaths increased by 279 percent for drug overdoses involving fentanyl during the study period, from 5.7 per 100,000 standard population in 2016 to 21.6 in 2021,” the authors write.