Years of life lost to drug overdose in the Latinx community during the most recent wave of overdose deaths

Abstract

AbstractBackground and ObjectivesThis study estimated years of life lost (YLL) among US Latinx individuals during the most recent wave of drug overdose deaths.MethodsA serial cross‐sectional study of YLL (life expectancy minus age at death) from death certificate records of Latinx individuals who died from drug overdoses from 2015 to mid‐2022.ResultsOver the study period, 58,209 Latinx individuals aged 15–64 years died from drug overdoses resulting in 2,266,784 YLL. Age‐group YLL differences remained stable, but gender YLL trajectories diverged.Conclusions and Scientific SignificanceThis study extends our understanding of the immense loss to Latinx communities from preventable drug deaths.