Racial Disparities Seen in Unintentional Overdose Mortality
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, April 9, 2025 -- There are disparities in overdose mortality, with a pronounced and increasing burden of mortality for Black men and Black women, according to a study published online April 1 in JAMA Network Open.
Kechna Cadet, Ph.D., M.P.H., from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City, and colleagues examined intersectional sex-specific White and Black racial disparities in drug poisoning mortality across states from 2010 to 2020 in a cross-sectional study using unintentional fatal drug poisoning mortality data.
Overall, 11,820,781 years of potential life lost (YPLL) were recorded from a total sample of 518,724 unintentional fatal drug poisoning deaths. The highest mean age-adjusted mortality rate was seen for Black men (23.25), followed by White men, White women, and Black women (22.49, 11.71, and 9.01, respectively). Compared with White men, both Black men and Black women had worsening YPLL over time, while White women showed improvement in YPLL over time (τ = 0.298, 0.157, and −0.146, respectively). There was a disproportionate burden of deaths due to drug poisonings at the state level; the highest increase in mortality rates among Black men was seen in Maryland (485.4 percent), while states such as Alaska had decreases for White women (−23.0 percent).
"Efforts to reduce drug-related mortality must address the specific needs of marginalized communities, especially Black men," Cadet said in a statement. "Addressing these disparities requires a comprehensive, multifaceted approach that targets social, economic, physical, and policy risk factors."
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted April 2025
Read this next
Swept-Source Anterior Segment OCT Can Help Distinguish Early Childhood Glaucoma
FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- The noninvasive swept-source anterior-segment optical coherence tomography (SS-ASOCT) can diagnose early-onset childhood glaucoma, according to a study...
Semaglutide Plus Intensive Behavioral Therapy Most Beneficial for Weight Loss
FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- Weight loss treatment combining personalized semaglutide with intensive behavioral therapy (IBT) yields weight loss similar to that reported in...
Higher Social Media Use Tied to Subsequent Depressive Symptoms in Youth
FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- Higher social media use is associated with greater subsequent depressive symptoms in children and adolescents, according to a study published online May 21...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.