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Educational Attainment and US Drug Overdose Deaths
1RAND, Arlington, Virginia.
JAMA Health Forum
|October 6, 2023
Summary
Lower educational attainment is linked to a faster rise in overdose deaths, particularly from synthetic opioids. This trend may worsen life expectancy gaps for disadvantaged groups.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
- Sociology
Background:
- Educational attainment is a known social determinant of health, influencing life expectancy in the United States.
- The escalating opioid crisis necessitates understanding its impact across different educational demographics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the relationship between educational attainment and overdose death rates.
- To specifically analyze trends in overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study utilizing the National Vital Statistics System Mortality Multiple Cause-of-Death data.
- Analysis covered overdose deaths from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2021, with a focus on 2018-2021.
- Data included decedents aged 25 years and older, categorized by educational attainment (no HS diploma to bachelor's degree or higher).
Main Results:
- From 2018-2021, the overall overdose death rate was 33.4 per 100,000 population.
- Individuals without a high school (HS) diploma experienced a significant increase in overdose death rates (35.4 per 100,000) compared to those with a bachelor's degree (1.5 per 100,000).
- This disparity was largely driven by increased deaths involving synthetic opioids.
Conclusions:
- Lower educational attainment is associated with a disproportionately higher increase in overdose death rates.
- The shift towards synthetic opioids and polysubstance use disproportionately affects lower socioeconomic groups.
- These trends risk exacerbating existing disparities in life expectancy.
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