Unintentional Drug Overdose Mortality in Years of Life Lost Among Adolescents and Young People in the US From 2015 to 2019

Abstract

Unintentional drug overdose has become a grave and sustained public health burden in the US. 1 The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines unintentional drug overdose as occurring "…when no harm is intended." 2(p1) and inclusive of "…overdoses resulting from drug misuse, drug abuse, and taking too much of a drug for medical reasons." 2(p1) Adult decedents have been the focus of most overdose mortality reports, despite the fact that adolescents (aged 10-19 years) and young people (aged 10-24 years) are increasingly dying of unintentional drug overdose. 3 This troubling trend requires further study, given that adolescents and young people are deprived of many more years of work, community life, and family life than are older individuals dying of unintentional drug overdose.To our knowledge, no prior study has assessed unintentional drug overdose mortality among adolescents and young people in years of life lost (YLL). YLL is an epidemiologic descriptor that gives weight to deaths among the young. 4 YLL analysis has the potential to provide important context to the overdose crisis by better representing what is meant to society by the loss of adolescents and young people to unintentional drug overdose. The present work aimed to fill this important gap in the literature by calculating unintentional drug overdose YLL in this vulnerable population.

Years of Life Lost to Unintentional Drug Overdose Rapidly Rising in the Adolescent Population, 2016–2020

“…It is essential to examine YLL to unintentional overdose in the context of other leading causes of death, as doing so may guide the allocation of government funding and intervention efforts toward areas of greatest need. This paper replicates and extends prior research by our group utilizing YLL to convey the impact of adolescent overdose on society [11]. The present study aims to quantify the impact of unintentional overdose mortality in adolescents aged 10e19 from 2016 to 2020, compare unintentional overdose mortality to other leading causes of adolescent death, and document the role of IMF and other synthetic opioids in rapidly rising overdose rates.…”

“…In 2019, unintentional overdose was a leading cause of adolescent mortality, trailing behind cancer, motor vehicle collisions, homicide, and suicide [2]. During this year, unintentional overdose costs adolescents more years of life (39,579) than congenital disorders (24,299), heart disease (23,600), intentional overdose (11,164), and chronic lower respiratory disease (9,072).…”

“…In addition to gender and age, race and sociodemographics should be considered when assessing risk of unintentional overdose [11,27]. One recent report highlighted accelerating overdose mortality among Black Americans and disproportionately elevated overdose death rates among American Indian or Alaska Native individuals in 2020 [28].…”

An Urgent Need to Focus on Youth With Opioid Use Disorder

“…The syndemics of COVID-19 and the overdose crisis have had a profound impact on the lives of individuals across the United States, including youth and those from minoritized and marginalized communities. A recent study found 1.25 million years of life lost among young people aged 10–24 years to unintentional drug overdose between 2015 and 2019 [ 13 ]. The most potent intervention to flatten and reverse this trend is medications for opioid use disorder.…”

Race, Overdose Deaths, and Years of Lost Life

“…To the Editor In their study of fatal drug overdoses among young people aged 10 to 24 years, Hall and colleagues report 21 689 deaths from 2015 to 2019, which resulted in 1.23 million years of lost life (YLL). This averages to 57 YLL per overdose death, a devastating statistic.…”