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Patterns and risk factors of opioid-suspected EMS overdose in Houston metropolitan area, 2015-2019: A Bayesian spatiotemporal analysis

BACKGROUND: Opioid-related overdose deaths are the top accidental cause of death in the United States, and development of regional strategies to address this epidemic should begin with a better understanding of where and when overdoses are occurring. METHODS AND FINDINGS: In this study, we relied on...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Bauer, Cici, Champagne-Langabeer, Tiffany, Bakos-Block, Christine, Zhang, Kehe, Persse, David, Langabeer, James R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7951926/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33705402
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247050
Descripción
Sumario:BACKGROUND: Opioid-related overdose deaths are the top accidental cause of death in the United States, and development of regional strategies to address this epidemic should begin with a better understanding of where and when overdoses are occurring. METHODS AND FINDINGS: In this study, we relied on emergency medical services data to investigate the geographical and temporal patterns in opioid-suspected overdose incidents in one of the largest and most ethnically diverse metropolitan areas (Houston Texas). Using a cross sectional design and Bayesian spatiotemporal models, we identified zip code areas with excessive opioid-suspected incidents, and assessed how the incidence risks were associated with zip code level socioeconomic characteristics. Our analysis suggested that opioid-suspected overdose incidents were particularly high in multiple zip codes, primarily south and central within the city. Zip codes with high percentage of renters had higher overdose relative risk (RR = 1.03; 95% CI: [1.01, 1.04]), while crowded housing and larger proportion of white citizens had lower relative risks (RR = 0.9; 95% CI: [0.84, 0.96], RR = 0.97, 95% CI: [0.95, 0.99], respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis illustrated the utility of Bayesian spatiotemporal models in assisting the development of targeted community strategies for local prevention and harm reduction efforts.