Citation

Fulmer S, Jain S, Kriebel D. New Solut. 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Baywood Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/10482911211023476

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The opioid epidemic has had disproportionate effects across various sectors of the population, differentially impacting various occupations. Commercial fishing has among the highest rates of occupational fatalities in the United States. This study used death certificate data from two Massachusetts fishing ports to calculate proportionate mortality ratios of fatal opioid overdose as a cause of death in commercial fishing. Statistically significant proportionate mortality ratios revealed that commercial fishermen were greater than four times more likely to die from opioid poisoning than nonfishermen living in the same fishing ports. These important quantitative findings suggest opioid overdoses, and deaths to diseases of despair in general, deserve further study in prevention, particularly among those employed in commercial fishing.

Language: en

Keywords

mortality; opioids; commercial fishing; deaths of despair; occupational fatality