Increasing burden of opioid overdose mortality in the United States: Years of life lost by age, race, and state from 2019-2021

Abstract

AbstractThe United States’ opioid crisis is worsening, but the nationwide burden has not been characterized during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study we calculate years of life lost to opioid overdose deaths by demographic group and examine trends from 2019 to 2021.Using the Multiple Cause of Death dataset from CDC WONDER, we extracted opioid overdose deaths stratified by race/ethnicity, age, and state, and estimated crude and age-adjusted mortality rates, years of life lost, and reduction in life expectancy at birth.Increasing annually, opioid overdose deaths reached 80,411 in 2021, leading to 3 million years of life lost, and reducing life expectancy by 0.65 years. From 2019 to 2021, opioid overdose death rates increased across all groups. American Indian/Alaska Native and Black/African American men now experience the highest burden, with 1,500 years of life lost per 100,000, life expectancies at birth reduced by almost 1 year, and 46 and 51 deaths per 100,000, respectively.This study highlights the continued growth of the opioid crisis, and the surge in years of life lost coinciding with COVID-19. There is an urgent need for more effective interventions, particularly in light of this epidemic’s changing demographics.