Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jun;38(6):248-251.
doi: 10.24095/hpcdp.38.6.05.

At-a-glance - Impact of drug overdose-related deaths on life expectancy at birth in British Columbia

[Article in English, French]
Xibiao Ye  1 , Jenny Sutherland  1 , Bonnie Henry  1 , Mark Tyndall  2 , Perry Robert William Kendall  1
Affiliations

At-a-glance - Impact of drug overdose-related deaths on life expectancy at birth in British Columbia

[Article in English, French]
Xibiao Ye et al. Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can. 2018 Jun.

Erratum in

Abstract
in English, French

We quantified the contributions of leading causes of death and drug overdose to changes in life expectancy at birth over time and inequalities by sex and socioeconomic status in British Columbia. From 2014 to 2016, life expectancy at birth declined by 0.38 years and drug overdose deaths (mainly opioid-involved) contributed a loss of 0.12 years of the decrease. The analysis also demonstrated that the higher drug overdose mortality among males and among those in lower socioeconomic status communities contributed to a differential decrease in life expectancy at birth for males and for those in the latter category.

Nous avons quantifié la contribution des principales causes de décès et de surdose à l’évolution de l’espérance de vie à la naissance et aux disparités en matière de sexe et de situation socioéconomique en Colombie-Britannique. Entre 2014 et 2016, l’espérance de vie à la naissance a diminué de 0,38 an et les décès par surdose (principalement liés aux opioïdes) ont contribué à ce recul pour 0,12 an. L’analyse a également montré que le taux plus élevé de mortalité par surdose constaté chez les hommes et les membres des catégories socioéconomiques plus défavorisées a contribué à une diminution différentielle dans ces deux groupes de l’espérance de vie à la naissance.

Keywords: inequality; life expectancy at birth; opioid overdose death.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

References

    1. Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths in BC (Internet) Office of the Chief Coroner, BC Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General. Available from: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/public-safety-and-emergency-services/d....
    1. Fentanyl-Detected Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths (Internet) Office of the Chief Coroner, BC Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General. Available from: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/public-safety-and-emergency-services/d....
    1. Provincial health offi¬cer declares public health emergency (Internet) BC Gov News. Available from: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2016HLTH0026-000568.
    1. Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Xu J, Arias E, et al. Mortality in the United States, 2016 Key findings Data from the National Vital Statistics System. NCHS Data Brief. 2016:1–8. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db293.pdf. - PubMed
    1. Dowell D, Arias E, Kochanek K, Anderson R, Guy GP, Losby JL, et al, et al. Contribution of opioid-involved poi¬soning to the change in life expec¬tancy in the United States, 2000-2015. Dowell D, Arias E, Kochanek K, Anderson R, Guy GP, Losby JL, et al. 2017;318((11)):1065–1067. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources