Brief Report: The Impact of COVID‐19 on Emergency Department Overdose Diagnoses and County Overdose Deaths

Abstract

Background and Objectives We sought to understand the impact of COVID‐19 on emergency department (ED) overdoses and county coroner verified overdose deaths. Methods Electronic medical health record and county coroner data were gathered and comparisons were made between three 16‐week time periods. In the three time periods, 873 individuals had an overdose diagnosis in the ED and 440 individuals in the county died of drug overdose. Results While total ED patient volume decreased substantially, the number of ED overdose patients increased between March 6 and June 25, 2020. Furthermore, during this same period, coroner data revealed an increase in overdose deaths. Conclusion and Scientific Significance This preliminary evidence provides a key insight into the impact of COVID‐19 on both overdose presentations to the ED and county overdose deaths. These results emphasize the critical need for increasing vigilance to prevent overdose by continuously developing and optimizing both accessible and quality treatment as we navigate through this pandemic and its ongoing effects on persons with substance use disorder. (Am J Addict 2021;00:00–00)

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on temporal patterns of mental health and substance abuse related mortality in Michigan: An interrupted time series analysis

“…The pattern of increase agrees with studies of overdose mortality in other regions. 53 , 54 There are distinct pathways by which the pandemic may influence substance use-related mortality, despite the lack of increase in suicide deaths. Unlike suicide, substance use can also serve as a coping mechanism for psychosocial stressors.…”

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Opioid Overdose Deaths: a Spatiotemporal Analysis

“…While death totals remained relatively steady between 2017 and 2018, recent estimates place the 2020 national overdose death total at 93,331—an alarming 32% increase from 2019 [ 1 ]. Research indicates that the onset of the pandemic was associated with an increase in overdose deaths nationally [ 2 , 3 ], regionally [ 4 – 7 ], and locally [ 8 – 11 ]. The increase in opioid overdose deaths (OODs) during the pandemic has been attributed to various factors: reduced access to interventions, increased levels of stress due to isolation and loss of mental health support, and changes in the types/combinations and purity of drugs and patterns of drug use.…”

Have deaths of despair risen during the COVID-19 pandemic? A rapid systematic review

“…Most of the studies that conducted comparison between pre-and post-pandemic periods (n=20) showed that overdose death has been increased (n=15 28,29,34,40,65,66,[72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81] , 7 with significant findings 28,29,65,66,72,73,78 ) compared to pre-pandemic figures. Only a few studies found null (n=3) [82][83][84] or a decrease in overdose death (n=2) 49,85 .…”

“…Seven studies assessed changes in overdose-related death based on sex 65,72,73,75,78,82,87 . Of those, three reported a higher increase in overdose death in men than women 73,75,78 .…”

“…Seven studies assessed changes in overdose-related death based on sex 65,72,73,75,78,82,87 . Of those, three reported a higher increase in overdose death in men than women 73,75,78 . Regarding the age group, three studies found no association 65,72,74 , two observed a rise in younger people (less than 35 years 73 , 25 years 34 ), and one reported an increase in adults older than 65 years 34 .…”