Trends in North Carolina Hospital Use Related to Prescription Opioid and Heroin Poisoning, 2012-2015

The opioid epidemic is expanding rapidly, and North Carolina is experiencing a faster increase in drug overdose deaths than the nation as a whole. A companion brief gave a cross-sectional description of hospital claims data to provide a broader lens to the opioid epidemic in North Carolina.

This brief expands that analysis to review trends in hospital use related to opioid poisonings from FY 2012 to FY 2015. Visits for all opioid poisoning – both prescription opioid and heroin poisoning – increased by 37%. The bulk of this increase was due to increases in heroin-related visits (283% increase) rather than in prescription poisoning (8%). Data on opioid poisoning visits are shown by type of poisoning, sex, age and payer group for Fiscal Years 2012 and 2015.

Read the brief:
Trends in North Carolina Hospital Use Related to Prescription Opioid and Heroin Poisoning, 2012-2015

Authors: Christina A. Smith and Mark Holmes
Posted:
August 10, 2017

 

Companion brief:
Opioid Poisoning Related Hospital Use in North Carolina