Simple routine medical screening could help identify those at highest risk of overdose deaths

Study shows health care professionals could play a crucial role in identifying people most at risk for overdose deaths

Vancouver, BC [May 19, 2016] Inquiries about a patient’s overdose history by a family doctor or first line health care professional could help identify those most at risk of dying from a fatal drug overdose. A new study from researchers at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) found individuals who experienced a non-fatal overdose are more likely to subsequently die from a fatal overdose than those who did not report a recent overdose. The risk of death also increases significantly as the number of reported past non-fatal overdoses rises. The researchers suggest simple screening to identify people who are most at risk could help lower overdose death rates.

“Health and social workers may be in a unique position to easily identify individuals most at risk of death due to overdose,” said Dr. Kanna Hayashi, study senior author, research scientist at the BC-CfE’s Urban Health Research Initiative and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia.”This is the first study to demonstrate individuals who have experienced a non-fatal overdose in the past are at a much higher risk of a subsequent fatal overdose, suggesting those providing services to persons with addiction may be able to easily identify individuals for intensive overdose prevention interventions.”

In recent years, fatal overdose has become a leading cause of death in North America. Research to allow for the identification of those most at risk of death has been lacking. B.C. recently became the first province in Canada to declare a public health emergency in response to the current crisis from drug overdoses. The B.C. Ministry of Health explained the purpose of the emergency declaration was to”allow medical health officers throughout the province to collect more robust, real-time information on overdoses in order to identify immediately where risks are arising and take proactive action to warn and protect people who use drugs.”

“While we are in the midst of a public health emergency due to fatal overdoses, the reality is only a tiny fraction of the drug using population is likely to experience a fatal overdose. These data imply basic screening activities, when routinely performed, could help identify those at highest risk,” said Dr. Seonaid Nolan, Assistant Professor of Medicine, research scientist at the BC-CfE and addiction medicine physician at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver.

Data from the study”Non Fatal overdose as a risk factor for subsequent fatal overdose among people who inject drugs“, published in the top U.S. addiction journal Drugs and Alcohol Dependence, were derived from 2317 participants between May 1996 and December 2011.

-30-

Share the Post:
Scroll to Top