Disparities in opioid overdose deaths continue to worsen for Black people, suggests study

Non-Hispanic Black individuals in 4 US states experienced a 38% increase in the rate of opioid overdose deaths from 2018 to 2019, while the rates for other race and ethnicity groups held steady or decreased, according to a new NIH study.

The research emphasizes the need for equitable, data-driven, community-based interventions that address these disparities.

The NIH research was conducted as part of the HEALing Communities Study, which aims to significantly reduce opioid-related overdose deaths by helping communities implement evidence-based practices to treat opioid use disorder and reduce other harms associated with opioid use in New York, Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Ohio.

For this study, data were collected from death certificates for 2018 and 2019 across 67 communities with a total population of more than 8.3 million people in the 4 states. The researchers calculated rates and trends of opioid overdose deaths overall and for each state, and then further analyzed trends by race and ethnicity. Overall, the investigators observed no change in the opioid overdose death rate in these states from 2018. However, the researchers observed a 38% overall increase in the opioid overdose death rate for non-Hispanic Black individuals from 2018 to 2019 across these 4 states. There were no changes overall among the other racial and ethnic groups. The study authors note that these data add to the evidence of increasing disparities in opioid overdose deaths by race and ethnicity and highlight the importance of access to timely, local data to inform effective community-tailored strategies to reduce these deaths.