Health Indicator Report of Drug Overdose and Poisoning Incidents

In 2002, poisoning surpassed motor vehicle traffic death as the leading cause of injury death in Utah. Since, poisoning-related deaths have increased significantly over the past 20 years. From 2019-2022, drug poisoning deaths made up 92% of all poisoning deaths in Utah. Deaths related to motor vehicle crash remained relatively steady over the same time period. Deaths related to falls and firearms have trended upward. Deaths from suffocation and drowning have remained relatively the same.

Notes

Data are age-adjusted (2000 U.S. standard population).

Data Interpretation Issues

Poisoning incidents are classified according to ICD codes. ICD stands for the International Classification of Diseases. It is a coding system maintained by the World Health Organization and the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics used to classify causes of death, injury, and disease. These codes are updated approximately every ten years to account for advances in medical technology. The U.S. is currently using the 10th revision (ICD-10) to code causes of death. Poisoning deaths are defined by ICD-10 codes X40-X49 (unintentional); X60-X69 (suicide); X85-X90, *U01 (.6-.7) (homicide); Y10-Y19 (undetermined), and Y35.2 (other). Drug poisoning deaths are a subset of poisoning deaths and are defined by ICD-10 codes X40-X44 (unintentional), X60-X64 (suicide), X85 (homicide), and Y10-Y14 (undetermined). Prescription opioid deaths are identified using data from the Office of the Medical Examiner in the Utah Violent Death Reporting System.

Definition

__Poisoning deaths:__ number of deaths among Utah residents with underlying cause of death being poisoning (ICD-10 codes X40-X49, X60-X69, X85-X90, Y10-Y19, Y35.2, *U01 [.6-.7]) per 100,000 population. __Drug poisoning deaths:__ number of deaths among Utah residents resulting from drug poisoning (ICD-10 codes X40-X44, X60-X64, X85, Y10-Y14) per 100,000 population. __Prescription opioid deaths:__ number of unintentional and undetermined intent deaths among residents and non-residents resulting from prescription opioids that occurred in Utah.

Numerator

__Poisoning deaths:__ number of deaths among Utah residents resulting from poisoning (ICD-10 codes X40-X49, X60-X69, X85-X90, Y10-Y19, Y35.2, *U01 [.6-.7]). __Drug poisoning deaths:__ number of deaths among Utah residents resulting from drug poisoning (ICD-10 codes X40-X44, X60-X64, X85, Y10-Y14). __Prescription opioid deaths:__ number of resident and non-resident unintentional and undetermined prescription opioid deaths that occurred in Utah.

Denominator

Total number of persons in the population of Utah.

Other Objectives

{{style color:#003366 Healthy People 2030 Objective IVP-20:}} Prevent an increase in poisoning deaths among all persons *'''U.S. Target:''' 13.1 deaths per 100,000 population *'''Utah Target:''' 12.9 deaths per 100,000 population[[br]] [[br]] {{style color:#003366 Healthy People 2020 Objective IVP-9.2:}} Prevent an increase in poisoning deaths among persons aged 35 to 54 years *'''U.S. Target:''' 25.6 deaths per 100,000 population *'''Utah Target:''' 23.2 deaths per 100,000 population[[br]] [[br]] {{style color:#003366 Healthy People 2020 Objective IVP-9.3:}} Prevent an increase in poisoning deaths caused by unintentional or undetermined intent among all persons *'''U.S. Target:''' 11.1 deaths per 100,000 population *'''Utah Target:''' 9.7 deaths per 100,000 population[[br]] [[br]] {{style color:#003366 Healthy People 2020 Objective IVP-9.4:}} Prevent an increase in poisoning deaths caused by unintentional or undetermined intent among persons aged 35 to 54 years *'''U.S. Target:''' 21.6 deaths per 100,000 population *'''Utah Target:''' 34.9 deaths per 100,000 population (prevent an increase in the 2010 crude rate)[[br]] [[br]] {{style color:#003366 Healthy People 2020 Objective IVP-10:}} Prevent an increase in nonfatal poisonings *'''U.S. Target:''' 304.8 nonfatal poisonings per 100,000 population *'''Utah Target:''' 291.5 nonfatal poisonings per 100,000 population

How Are We Doing?

The 2022 age-adjusted drug poisoning death rate was 19.5 per 100,000 population. During that year, 5.9% of Utah drug poisoning deaths were of undetermined intent, 14.5% were self-inflicted, and 79.4% were unintentional. From 2019 to 2022, males (23.9 per 100,000 population) had a significantly higher age-adjusted drug poisoning death rate compared to females (15.9 per 100,000 population). Males had the highest crude rates in the 35 to 44-year-old age group, while females had the highest crude rates in the 45-54-year-old age group. For ages 18-24, male drug poisoning death rates were significantly higher than female drug poisoning death rates (17.1 and 6.4 per 100,000 population, respectively).

How Do We Compare With the U.S.?

In 2021, the U.S. age-adjusted rate of drug poisoning deaths from all intents was 32.4 per 100,000 population. During this same year, the Utah age-adjusted rate of drug poisoning deaths was lower, with 21.0 deaths per 100,000 population.

What Is Being Done?

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has received funding to address prescription drug abuse, misuse, and overdose deaths by continuing data collection efforts to help target interventions, develop provider materials, increase naloxone awareness, expand public awareness efforts, and develop provider tools and resources to address prescription drug abuse. To address the opioid epidemic in Utah, the Violence and Injury Prevention Program oversees academic detailing; leads opioid dashboard development; manages Stop the Opidemic, a campaign that works to raise awareness on opioid abuse and misuse while reducing stigma; organizes naloxone, fentanyl test strips, and xylazine test strips dissemination and tracks overdose reversals; and provides funding to local health departments, 2-1-1, and other community partners who work alongside the DHHS in the opioid epidemic.

Evidence-based Practices

Here are some relevant programs using evidence-based practices. Strengthening Families Program[[br]] Evidence-based family skills training program[[br]] [http://strengtheningfamiliesprogram.org] HALO: Healthy Alternatives for Little Ones[[br]] Health education and prevention program for children aged 3-6 years[[br]] [https://theathenaforum.org/sites/default/files/healthy_alternatives_for_little_ones_4-21-12.pdf] Programs of Prevention, PRIME for Life[[br]] Alcohol and drug prevention program for all ages[[br]] [http://www.primeforlife.org]

Available Services

Know Your Script Media Campaign[[br]] [http://www.knowyourscript.org] The University of Utah: Utah Poison Control Center[[br]] [http://poisoncontrol.utah.edu] National Institutes of Health: National Institute on Drug Abuse[[br]] [http://drugabuse.gov] Utah Office of Substance Use and Mental Health (SUMH)[[br]] [https://sumh.utah.gov/] Partnership to End Addiction[[br]] [http://www.drugfree.org] Office of National Drug Control Policy[[br]] [http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp] Utah Department of Health and Human Services: Stop the Opidemic[[br]] [http://opidemic.utah.gov]

Health Program Information

The Violence and Injury Prevention Program (VIPP) is a trusted and comprehensive resource for data related to violence and injury. Through education, this information helps promote partnerships and programs to prevent injuries and improve public health. The VIPP goals are to a) focus prevention efforts on reducing intentional and unintentional injury, b) conduct education aimed at increasing awareness and changing behaviors that contribute to the occurrence of injury, c) strengthen local health department capacity to conduct local injury prevention programs, d) promote legislation, policy changes, and enforcement that will reduce injury hazards and increase safe behaviors, e) collaborate with private and public partners, and f) improve the Department of Health and Human Services' capacity to collect mortality and morbidity data from multiple sources and conduct injury epidemiology for use in prevention planning, implementation, and evaluation.