Opioid Overdose in Ohio: Comprehensive Analysis of Associated Socioeconomic Factors
ABSTRACTObjectiveOur study focused on identifying socioeconomic factors associated with death by opioid overdose in Ohio communities at the census tract level.Materials and MethodsA large-scale vital statistic dataset from Ohio Department of Health (ODH) and U.S. Census datasets were used to obtain opioid-related death rate and socioeconomic characteristics for all census tracts in Ohio. Regression analysis was performed to identify the relationships between socioeconomic factors of census tracts and the opioid-related death rate for both urban and rural tracts.ResultsIn Ohio from 2010-2016, whites, males, and people aged 25-44 had the highest opioid-related death rates. At the census tract level, higher death rates were associated with certain socioeconomic characteristics (e.g. percentage of the census tract population living in urban areas, percentage divorced/separated, percentage of vacant housing units). Predominately rural areas had a different population composition than urban areas, and death rates in rural areas exhibited fewer associations with socioeconomic characteristics.DiscussionPredictive models of opioid-related death rates based on census tract-level characteristics held for urban areas more than rural ones, reflecting the recently observed rural-to-urban geographic shift in opioid-related deaths. Future research is needed to examine the geographic distribution of opioid abuse throughout Ohio and in other states.ConclusionRegression analysis identified associations between population characteristics and opioid-related death rates of Ohio census tracts. These analyses can help government officials and law official workers prevent, predict and combat opioid abuse at the community level.