Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the risk of opioid-related harm, and previous studies suggest a connection between opioid overdose risk and industry of employment. We used descriptive and spatial-statistical tests with opioid overdose data from the vital records offices of Kentucky and Massachusetts to examine opioid overdose rates by employment industry before and after COVID-19 emergency declarations. Both states had consistently high rates of opioid-related overdose mortality for individuals employed in the construction and arts, recreation, food services, and accommodation service industries. Additionally in both states, census tracts with a high percentage of renters and non-Hispanic Black residents were more likely to be located in fatal opioid-related overdose hotspots following the initial surge of COVID-19 cases. In Kentucky, census tracts with higher percentages of employment in the transportation and other services were more likely to be located in an overdose hotspot before and after the COVID-19 emergency declaration, while in Massachusetts the same was true for census tracts with high employment in manufacturing, agriculture, forest, and fisheries, and hunting.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 100701 |
| Journal | Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology |
| Volume | 52 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2024
Funding
This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration through the NIH HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term®) Initiative under award numbers UM1DA049394 , UM1DA049406 , UM1DA049412 , UM1DA049415 , UM1DA049417 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04111939). This study protocol (Pro00038088) was approved by Advarra Inc., the HEALing Communities Study single Institutional Review Board. We wish to acknowledge the participation of the HEALing Communities Study communities, community coalitions, community partner organizations and agencies, and Community Advisory Boards and state government officials who partnered with us on this study. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration or the NIH HEAL Initiative®. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration through the NIH HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term®) Initiative under award numbers UM1DA049394, UM1DA049406, UM1DA049412, UM1DA049415, UM1DA049417 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04111939). This study protocol (Pro00038088) was approved by Advarra Inc. the HEALing Communities Study single Institutional Review Board. We wish to acknowledge the participation of the HEALing Communities Study communities, community coalitions, community partner organizations and agencies, and Community Advisory Boards and state government officials who partnered with us on this study. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration or the NIH HEAL Initiative®. The authors would like to thank Kentucky's Office of Vital Statistics and the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics. The authors are grateful to the HEALing Communities Study Publication and Presentation Work Group for their review of this paper.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration | |
| Kentucky's Office of Vital Statistics | |
| Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics | |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH) | UM1DA049412, Pro00038088, UM1DA049394, UM1DA049415, NCT04111939, UM1DA049417, UM1DA049406 |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH) |
Keywords
- COVID-19
- Getis-Ord*
- Hotspots
- Opioid, Industry
- Spatial statistics
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Epidemiology
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Infectious Diseases
- Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
