Effect of HCV or HIV infection on mortality among hospitalized persons who used opioids, 2000-2010

Mortality due to opioid misuse and overdose has increased substantially in the United States over the past two decades. The study objective was to describe the causes of death among persons with opioid-related hospitalizations and examine survival by Hepatitis C virus (HCV) or HIV. Opioid-related hospitalization records in Pennsylvania from 2000 to 2010 were linked to death registry files to assess cause of death, and survival from first hospital discharge date to death date, or December 31, 2010. Accelerated failure time models were used to compare survival between persons with and without HCV or HIV diagnoses. Among the 136,416 individuals with an opioid-related hospitalization, 13.0% died over a median of 56 months of follow-up; the most common causes of death were circulatory diseases (26.4%) and drug overdose (23.5%). There were 27,122 (19.9%) and 3662 (2.7%) persons who had an HCV and HIV diagnosis, respectively. Among patients aged ≥20 years, those with HCV had shorter survival time compared to those without HCV, with discrepancies more pronounced at older ages. Patients with HIV also had shorter survival time (time ratio: 0.29 [95% CI: 0.26, 0.34]) compared to without HIV. These findings show that in a cohort of patients with opioid-related hospitalizations, those with HCV or HIV diagnoses have shorter survival. This has public health implications, providing further evidence that medical providers should educate patients who use opioids about the risks of HCV and HIV infection and focus prevention and treatment to decrease mortality among patients hospitalized for opioid use.