Schizophrenia in high risk opioid users: A short communication on an autopsy study

The prevalence of schizophrenia among high risk opioid users was investigated as part of a wider investigation into opioid-related deaths. We found that over 6% of our sample of 312 decedents of opioid overdose had received a schizophrenia related diagnosis over a 36 month period prior to their death. This represents a near 8× increase on previously estimated period prevalence of schizophrenia in the general population. Though not conclusive, our findings raise questions about the extent to which opioid drugs are used by people with schizophrenia, and about how to best address high risk opioid use in people with schizophrenia.