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Citation
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Mattson CL, Kumar S, Tanz LJ, Patel P, Lou Q, Davis NL. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022-1. Atlanta, GA USA: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022. |
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Abstract
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KEY FINDINGS
1. In 2020, 38,048 drug overdose deaths were reported from 28 states and DC for an age-adjusted rate of 30.6 per 100,000 people
2. 70% of drug overdose deaths involved illicitly manufactured fentanyls (IMFs)
3. The rate of drug overdose deaths was highest among American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic and Black, non-Hispanic persons
4. Two-thirds of decedents had at least one potential opportunity for linkage to care or implementation of a life-saving action prior to death
In the United States, 91,799 drug overdose deaths occurred in 2020, a 30% increase from 2019, and provisional estimates suggest continued increases in 2021.1,2 Recent increases in drug overdose deaths have been largely driven by illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF),3,4,5 but deaths involving stimulants, such as cocaine and methamphetamine, are also on the rise.3,4,6 This report uses data from the State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS), which complements information available from other systems, to describe the drugs involved in and circumstances surrounding drug overdose deaths of unintentional or undetermined intent to help inform overdose prevention and response efforts.
Data Source and Methods CDC funds 47 states and the District of Columbia to abstract information from death certificates and medical examiner and coroner reports, including toxicology results, on drug overdose deaths of unintentional or undetermined intent through SUDORS. Detailed information is abstracted and entered into a web-based system to describe decedent demographics, circumstances that preceded the fatal overdose (e.g., prior history of overdose, recent release from an institutional setting), circumstances occurring during or immediately preceding the overdose (e.g., presence of potential bystanders), as well as some limited medical history (e.g., mental health diagnoses, treatment for substance use disorder), and response to the overdose (e.g., naloxone administration). In addition, SUDORS contains information on drugs detected during post-mortem toxicology testing as well as those determined by a medical examiner or coroner to have caused death.
This report includes data from 28 states and the District of Columbia that collected information on all drug overdose deaths of unintentional and undetermined intent that occurred during January to December 2020 and had medical examiner/coroner reports for at least 75% of deaths |