Sustainability and Social Justice

Spatial Analysis of Drug Poisoning Deaths and Access to Substance-Use Disorder Treatment in the United States

Document Type

Conference Paper

Abstract

Mortality rates from drug overdose have increased exponentially throughout the US for the past 30 years. Age-adjusted death rates from drug poisoning for 1999-2016 were analyzed at the county level using space-time cube and hot spot analysis, and a composite index of patient access to substance-use disorder treatment and services per each county has been calculated. More than two-thirds of all US counties have been classified as hot spots. Combining mortality hot spots with the accessibility index highlights 81 counties with high disease burden and low access to treatment providers. These areas deserve special attention as state and local government and public health organizations seek new prevention and intervention strategies to address the opioid epidemic.

Publication Title

GISTAM 2019 - Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Geographical Information Systems Theory, Applications and Management

Publication Date

1-1-2019

First Page

315

Last Page

321

ISBN

9789897583711

DOI

10.5220/0007828703150321

Keywords

drug poisoning deaths, hot spot analysis, medication-assisted treatment, opioid, space-time analysis

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