Study examines years of life lost for teens and young adults due to unintentional drug overdose

Newswise – COLUMBUS, Ohio – In a first-ever study, researchers from Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and medical college examined unintentional drug overdose mortality in years of life lost among adolescents and youth in the United States.

The results of the study are published online in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Excess mortality was calculated using Years of life lost (YLL), which is the difference between the age at which a person dies and their expected remaining lifespan. In 2019, life expectancy at birth in the United States was 78.8 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Adolescents and young adults who die of drug overdoses are deprived of many years of work, community and family life. Our study shows that overdose mortality among adolescents and young people is unacceptably high. Public health interventions to protect this vulnerable group are urgently needed,” said Dr. O. Trent Hall, first author of the study and an addiction medicine physician at Ohio State. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health.

This study looked at 3,296 adolescents aged 10 to 19 and 21,689 young people aged 10 to 24 who died from an unintentional drug overdose between 2015 and 2019. During this period, adolescents lost almost 200,000 years of life due to unintentional drug overdose, while young people have accumulated over 1.25 million years of life lost due to overdose.

Even though teens and young people are dying in increasing numbers from drug overdoses, adults have been the focus of most research reports, Hall said.

“We hope our report will raise awareness of the increasingly serious consequences of unintentional drug overdose among this vulnerable population,” said Dr. Julie Teater, lead study author and psychiatrist and addiction physician at the Ohio State Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. . “Our study provides important context to the overdose crisis by better representing what it means for society when we lose adolescents and young people to unintentional drug overdose.”

This study builds on Hall’s previous research that calculated years of life lost due to unintentional drug overdose in Ohio among the general population and pregnant women or those within a year of pregnancy. pregnancy.

“A clear implication of our research is that more resources are needed to prevent unintentional drug overdoses among adolescents and youth. Existing public health interventions aimed at adults may be insufficient,” Hall said.

Further research is needed to determine how best to engage youth in education, prevention, harm reduction, substance abuse treatment, and community and family support. This study underscores the need for improved interventions involving family, school and community in drug overdose prevention and addiction treatment, Teater said.

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