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Affiliation
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Both authors are with the Department of Anesthesiology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, and the Center for Injury Epidemiology and Prevention, Columbia University, New York, NY. |
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Abstract
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OBJECTIVES: To assess the time trends in prescription opioids detected in fatally injured drivers.
METHODS: We analyzed 1995 to 2015 Fatality Analysis Reporting System data from California, Hawaii, Illinois, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and West Virginia of toxicological tests for drivers fatally injured within 1 hour of a crash (n = 36 729). We used the Cochran-Armitage test for trend to assess the statistical significance of changes in the prevalence of prescription opioids detected in these drivers over time.
RESULTS: The prevalence of prescription opioids detected in fatally injured drivers increased from 1.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.5, 1.4) in 1995 to 7.2% (95% CI = 5.7, 8.8) in 2015 (Z = -9.04; P < .001). Prescription opioid prevalence was higher in female than in male drivers (4.4% vs 2.9%; P < .001). Of the drivers testing positive for prescription opioids, 30.0% had elevated blood alcohol concentrations (≥ 0.01 g/dL), and 66.9% tested positive for other drugs.
CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of prescription opioids detected in fatally injured drivers has increased in the past 2 decades. The need to assess the effect of increased prescription opioid use on traffic safety is urgent. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print July 20, 2017: e1-e6. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.303902).
Language: en |