Opioid overdose mortality among black people receiving a community- & theory-based multilevel opioid overdose
Dong-Chul Seo1, Dohyun Im1, Naomi Satterfield1
1Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University School of Public Health, Bloomington, IN, USA.
Objective:
To describe and evaluate a community- and theory-driven multilevel opioid overdose fatality prevention intervention for Black Indianapolis communities for 2022-2025.
Methods:
A community-driven opioid overdose fatality prevention project was designed based on Community Coalition Action Theory, the Citizen Health Care Model, and Legal Epidemiology. The intervention was implemented in inner-city Indianapolis (zip code areas 46202, 46205, 46208, 46218) with cluster-matched comparison areas in Indiana (46408, 46410, 46628, 46806). Data were collected in Indiana, U.S.A., in 2022-2025. Evaluation included mortality analysis and community probability surveys in Year 1 and 3.
Results:
There was a 45% decrease in Black overdose deaths in the intervention communities versus a 22% decrease in the comparison communities from 2022 to 2024. Probability community surveys showed improvement in overdose knowledge [difference-in-differences (DiD) estimator = 0.68, p = 0.03], perceived competency to manage an opioid overdose (DiD = 0.54, p < 0.01), and accessibility of naloxone (DiD = 1.06, p < 0.01) in the intervention communities compared to the comparison communities between Year 1 (N = 772) and 3 (N = 764).
Conclusions:
Similar community- and theory-driven multi-level interventions may be effective in reducing overdose mortalities in the Black communities.
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