Rhode Island Unintentional Drug Overdose Death Trends and Ranking – Office of the State Medical Examiners Database

摘要

Drug overdose is a public health crisis in the United States. 1 It is the leading cause of injury death in the U.S., causing about 52,000 deaths in 2015, 1, 2 and is a major public health concern in Rhode Island. Based on the age-adjusted rate of death due to drug overdose in 2015, Rhode Island ranked fifth in the U.S. The top five states included West Virginia (41.5 per 100,000), New Hampshire (34.3), Kentucky (29.9), Ohio (29.9), and Rhode Island (28.2). 3 The number of drug overdoses has risen rapidly during 2009–2016. In Rhode Island, the number of drug overdose deaths exceeds the com- bined number of deaths due to suicide, homicide, and motor vehicle crashes in 2016.