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
. 2020 Nov 12:12:100316.
doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2020.100316. eCollection 2020 Dec.

Racial and ethnic differences in alcohol-, opioid-, and co-use-related deaths in Washington State from 2011 to 2017

Oladunni Oluwoye  1 , Liat S Kriegel  1 , Karl C Alcover  1 , Katherine Hirchak  1 , Solmaz Amiri  2
Affiliations

Racial and ethnic differences in alcohol-, opioid-, and co-use-related deaths in Washington State from 2011 to 2017

Oladunni Oluwoye et al. Addict Behav Rep. .

Abstract

Background: Few studies exist examining alcohol and opioid co-use mortality rates among racially and ethnically diverse communities, presenting a critical gap in understanding the contribution of alcohol on opioid-related deaths and strategies for prevention. The purpose of the study was to assess whether alcohol and opioid-related deaths differ by race/ethnicity subgroups and if there has been an increase in alcohol and opioid-related deaths between 2011 and 2017.

Design: Secondary data analysis of publicly available alcohol and opioid mortality data among non-Hispanic Whites, Black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native individuals in Washington State.

Measurements: The primary outcomes were alcohol-only, opioid-only, and alcohol-opioid co-use mortality, 2011-2017. Alcohol and/or opioid-related deaths were assigned an International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) code for the underlying or multiple cause of death.

Findings: Between 2011 and 2017, alcohol-only mortality rates increased among non-Hispanic White (P = 0.003) and Hispanic individuals (P = 0.008). Opioid-only mortality rates increased among American Indian/Alaska Native (P = 0.004) and Hispanic individuals (P = <0.001). American Indian/Alaska Native individuals had the highest alcohol-only, opioid-only, and co-use-related mortality rates when looking at between-group incidence rates.

Conclusions: Although the opioid epidemic has been characterized as a public health crisis that predominantly impacts non-Hispanic White individuals, racial and ethnic minorities are increasingly impacted by fatal and non-fatal overdose related to co-occurring substance use. Our findings using data from Washington State, align with existing data and signal a dire need to address alcohol and opioid misuse through targeted interventions to prevent overdose and poisoning, with special considerations for American Indian/Alaska Native communities.

Keywords: Alcohol; Mortality; Opioids; Racial and ethnic differences.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Alexander M.J., Kiang M.V., Barbieri M. Trends in Black and White Opioid Mortality in the United States, 1979–2015. Epidemiology. 2018;29(5):707–715. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arias, E. (2008). The Validity of race and Hispanic origin reporting on death certificates in the United States [Internet]. [cited 2020 Sep 9]. (Vital and health statistics. Series 2, Data evaluation and methods). Report No.: 148. Available from: https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/45533. - PubMed
    1. Cano M. Drug overdose deaths among US Hispanics: Trends (2000–2017) and recent patterns. Substance Use & Misuse. 2020;55(13):2138–2147. - PubMed
    1. Center for Disease Control Injury Center (2020). Opioid Data Analysis and Resources [Internet]. Drug Overdose [cited 2020 Jul 28]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/analysis.html.
    1. Center for Health Statistics, WA Department of Health. Secure Access Washington. Available from: https://secureaccess.wa.gov/doh/chat/CHATWeb/Entry.mvc.

LinkOut - more resources