Citation

Nolan ML, Ehntholt A, Merrill T, Weiss D, Lall R, Paone D. Inj. Epidemiol. 2019; 6(1): e33.

Affiliation

1Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Use Prevention, Care, and Treatment, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 42-09 28th Street, 19th Floor, Queens, NY 11101 USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, The author(s), Publisher Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/s40621-019-0210-2

PMID

31321202

PMCID

PMC6613244

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Using data from syndromic surveillance, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) identified an increase in the number of emergency department (ED) visits related to synthetic cannabinoids. Syndromic surveillance data were used to target community-level interventions and assess the real-time impact of control measures in reducing synthetic cannabinoid ("K2")-related morbidity.

METHODS: From April 2015 through September 2015, DOHMH implemented 3 separate interventions to reduce K2-related morbidity by limiting the availability of K2 products. Difference-in-difference analyses compared pre- and post-intervention differences in cannabinoid-related ED visit rates between neighborhoods and controls for Interventions A and B. City-wide count data were used to compare K2-related ED visits before and after Intervention C.

RESULTS: Syndromic data showed a reduction in K2-related ED visits following the 3 interventions. Respective decreases in rates of synthetic cannabinoid-related ED visits of 33 and 38% were detected at the neighborhood-level due to Interventions A and B, respectively. A decrease of 29% was calculated at the city level following Intervention C.

CONCLUSIONS: In addition to identifying emerging public health concerns, syndromic data can provide valuable real-time evidence on the effectiveness of public health interventions.

Language: en

Keywords

Public health; Surveillance; Syndromic surveillance; Synthetic cannabinoid