Comprehensive Summary
In their article, Weiner et al. (2020) evaluated one-year mortality among patients treated in Massachusetts emergency departments for non-fatal opioid overdose. Using statewide public health databases, researchers identified ED overdose visits from July 2011 to September 2015. The primary outcome was one-year mortality, with secondary outcomes being one-month and two-day mortality. Among 11,557 ED patients, 635 (5.5%) died within one year. Short-term mortality was also notable, with 130 (1.1%) dying within one month and 29 (0.25%) dying within two days of the ED encounter. Findings indicate a substantial post-discharge mortality risk, highlighting the need for prompt and intensive interventions for patients presenting with opioid overdose.
Outcomes and Implications
In 2017, there were an estimated 49,000 deaths in the U.S related to an opioid overdose, and these numbers have only increased. Additionally, in 2014 there were 92,000 ED visits due to nonfatal opioid overdose, indicating the danger and prevalence of opioid addiction. Before the present study, the one-year mortality of patients presenting to the ED with opioid overdose was unknown, highlighting a gap in understanding of the risk factor of patients discharged. The present study found that around 5% of patients presenting to the ED for opioid overdose die within one year, suggesting this patient population is at high risk after being discharged. Due to the high one-year mortality, researchers call for a more aggressive intervention to discharged patients. By integrating more aggressive intervention approaches, the amount of preventable deaths during the vulnerable post-overdose period could be reduced.