Chronic disease diagnoses and health service use among people who died of illicit drug toxicity in British Columbia, Canada
Abstract Background Illicit drug toxicity (i.e., overdose) is the leading cause of death in British Columbia (BC) for people aged 10–59. Stimulants are increasingly detected among drug toxicity deaths. As stimulant use and detection in deaths rises, it is important to understand how people who die o...
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2024-11-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03646-y |
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| author | Heather Palis Kevin Hu Andrew Tu Frank Scheuermeyer John A. Staples Jessica Moe Beth Haywood Roshni Desai Chloé G. Xavier Jessica C. Xavier Alexis Crabtree Amanda Slaunwhite |
| author_facet | Heather Palis Kevin Hu Andrew Tu Frank Scheuermeyer John A. Staples Jessica Moe Beth Haywood Roshni Desai Chloé G. Xavier Jessica C. Xavier Alexis Crabtree Amanda Slaunwhite |
| author_sort | Heather Palis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Illicit drug toxicity (i.e., overdose) is the leading cause of death in British Columbia (BC) for people aged 10–59. Stimulants are increasingly detected among drug toxicity deaths. As stimulant use and detection in deaths rises, it is important to understand how people who die of stimulant toxicity differ from people who die of opioid toxicity. Methods BC Coroners Service records were retrieved for all people who died of unintentional illicit drug toxicity (accidental or undetermined) between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2019, whose coroner investigation had concluded and who had an opioid and/or stimulant detected in post-mortem toxicology and identified by the coroner as relevant to the death (N = 3788). BC Chronic Disease Registry definitions were used to identify people with chronic disease. Multinomial regression models were used to examine the relationship between chronic disease diagnoses and drug toxicity death type. Results Of the 3788 deaths, 11.1% (N = 422) had stimulants but not opioids deemed relevant to the cause of death (stimulant group), 26.8% (N = 1014) had opioids but not stimulants deemed relevant (opioid group), and 62.1% (N = 2352) had both opioids and stimulants deemed relevant (opioid/stimulant group). People with ischemic heart disease (1.80 (1.14–2.85)) and people with heart failure (2.29 (1.25–4.20)) had approximately twice the odds of being in the stimulant group as compared to the opioid group. Conclusions Findings suggest that people with heart disease who use illicit stimulants face an elevated risk of drug toxicity death. Future research should explore this association and should identify opportunities for targeted interventions to reduce drug toxicity deaths among people with medical comorbidities. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f84a48cab13546fcbf1dc90a67dd06f9 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1741-7015 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Medicine |
| spelling | doaj-art-f84a48cab13546fcbf1dc90a67dd06f92024-12-01T12:29:40ZengBMCBMC Medicine1741-70152024-11-0122111310.1186/s12916-024-03646-yChronic disease diagnoses and health service use among people who died of illicit drug toxicity in British Columbia, CanadaHeather Palis0Kevin Hu1Andrew Tu2Frank Scheuermeyer3John A. Staples4Jessica Moe5Beth Haywood6Roshni Desai7Chloé G. Xavier8Jessica C. Xavier9Alexis Crabtree10Amanda Slaunwhite11BC Centre for Disease Control, UBC School of Population and Public HealthBC Centre for Disease ControlBC Coroners ServiceDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Center for Advancing Health Outcomes, St Paul’s Hospitaland the, University of British ColumbiaDivision of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Evaluation (C2E2), University of British ColumbiaDepartment of Emergency Medicine, UBC, BC Centre for Disease ControlBC Centre for Disease ControlBC Centre for Disease ControlBC Centre for Disease ControlBC Centre for Disease ControlBC Centre for Disease Control, UBC School of Population and Public HealthBC Centre for Disease Control, UBC School of Population and Public HealthAbstract Background Illicit drug toxicity (i.e., overdose) is the leading cause of death in British Columbia (BC) for people aged 10–59. Stimulants are increasingly detected among drug toxicity deaths. As stimulant use and detection in deaths rises, it is important to understand how people who die of stimulant toxicity differ from people who die of opioid toxicity. Methods BC Coroners Service records were retrieved for all people who died of unintentional illicit drug toxicity (accidental or undetermined) between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2019, whose coroner investigation had concluded and who had an opioid and/or stimulant detected in post-mortem toxicology and identified by the coroner as relevant to the death (N = 3788). BC Chronic Disease Registry definitions were used to identify people with chronic disease. Multinomial regression models were used to examine the relationship between chronic disease diagnoses and drug toxicity death type. Results Of the 3788 deaths, 11.1% (N = 422) had stimulants but not opioids deemed relevant to the cause of death (stimulant group), 26.8% (N = 1014) had opioids but not stimulants deemed relevant (opioid group), and 62.1% (N = 2352) had both opioids and stimulants deemed relevant (opioid/stimulant group). People with ischemic heart disease (1.80 (1.14–2.85)) and people with heart failure (2.29 (1.25–4.20)) had approximately twice the odds of being in the stimulant group as compared to the opioid group. Conclusions Findings suggest that people with heart disease who use illicit stimulants face an elevated risk of drug toxicity death. Future research should explore this association and should identify opportunities for targeted interventions to reduce drug toxicity deaths among people with medical comorbidities.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03646-yOverdoseIllicit drug toxicityChronic diseaseCardiovascular diseaseMental health disorderSubstance use disorder |
| spellingShingle | Heather Palis Kevin Hu Andrew Tu Frank Scheuermeyer John A. Staples Jessica Moe Beth Haywood Roshni Desai Chloé G. Xavier Jessica C. Xavier Alexis Crabtree Amanda Slaunwhite Chronic disease diagnoses and health service use among people who died of illicit drug toxicity in British Columbia, Canada BMC Medicine Overdose Illicit drug toxicity Chronic disease Cardiovascular disease Mental health disorder Substance use disorder |
| title | Chronic disease diagnoses and health service use among people who died of illicit drug toxicity in British Columbia, Canada |
| title_full | Chronic disease diagnoses and health service use among people who died of illicit drug toxicity in British Columbia, Canada |
| title_fullStr | Chronic disease diagnoses and health service use among people who died of illicit drug toxicity in British Columbia, Canada |
| title_full_unstemmed | Chronic disease diagnoses and health service use among people who died of illicit drug toxicity in British Columbia, Canada |
| title_short | Chronic disease diagnoses and health service use among people who died of illicit drug toxicity in British Columbia, Canada |
| title_sort | chronic disease diagnoses and health service use among people who died of illicit drug toxicity in british columbia canada |
| topic | Overdose Illicit drug toxicity Chronic disease Cardiovascular disease Mental health disorder Substance use disorder |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03646-y |
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