ArticlePublic health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)
Accuracy of Medical Examiner's Assessment for Near-Real-Time Surveillance of Fatal Drug Overdoses, King County, Washington, March 2017-February 2018.
Article in Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974). The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Innovations in public health surveillance: An overview of novel use of data and analytic methods.Canada communicable disease report = Releve des maladies transmissibles au Canada · 2024Article
- Presentation and Outcomes of Adults With Overdose-Related Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest.JAMA network open · 2023Article
- Rapid Identification of Suspected Drug Overdose Deaths by Death Investigators, New Jersey, 2020.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesUp-to-date information on the occurrence of drug overdose is critical to guide public health response. The objective of our study was to evaluate a near-real-time fatal drug overdose surveillance system to improve timeliness of drug overdose monitoring.
methodsWe analyzed data on deaths in the King County (Washington) Medical Examiner's Office (KCMEO) jurisdiction that occurred during March 1, 2017-February 28, 2018, and that had routine toxicology test results. Medical examiners (MEs) classified probable drug overdoses on the basis of information obtained through the death investigation and autopsy. We calculated sensitivity, positive predictive value, specificity, and negative predictive value of MEs' classification by using the final death certificate as the gold standard.
resultsKCMEO investigated 2480 deaths; 1389 underwent routine toxicology testing, and 361 were toxicologically confirmed drug overdoses from opioid, stimulant, or euphoric drugs. Sensitivity of the probable overdose classification was 83%, positive predictive value was 89%, specificity was 96%, and negative predictive value was 94%. Probable overdoses were classified a median of 1 day after the event, whereas the final death certificate confirming an overdose was received by KCMEO an average of 63 days after the event.
conclusionsKing County MEs' probable overdose classification provides a near-real-time indicator of fatal drug overdoses, which can guide rapid local public health responses to the drug overdose epidemic.
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