Citation

Harris RA. JAMA Psychiatry 2022; 79(8): 833-834.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, American Medical Association)

DOI

10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.1688

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

To the Editor In their study of fatal drug overdoses in the US from 1999 to 2020 by race and ethnicity (American Indian or Alaskan Native, Black, Hispanic or Latino, and White), Friedman and Hansen report that overdose deaths had risen for all groups since 1999, but grew more rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors did not examine overdose mortality by sex, which would have revealed different trends for male and female individuals.From 1999 to 2013, the overdose death rate was mostly flat or had increased gradually for both male and female individuals, but then rose extremely fast for male individuals through 2019, reaching a peak in 2020. The 2013 to 2020 increase for female individuals was markedly less pronounced. The divergent trends for male and female individuals after 2013 were similar across racial and ethnic groups. The differences between American Indian or Alaskan Native male individuals and female individuals in overdose deaths per 100 000 were 1.5 in 1999, 2.4 in 2013, 13.7 in 2019, and 20.1 in 2020. For Black individuals, the respective differences were 7.5, 6.8, 23.8, and 35.3; for Hispanic or Latino individuals, 6.4, 5.1, 13.8, and 19.8; for White individuals, 3.7, 7.6, 16.7, and 22.9.

Language: en