ArticleJournal of affective disorders2022
Comparing mortality from covid-19 to mortality due to overdose: A micromort analysis.
Article in Journal of affective disorders, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Changing trends in drug overdose mortality in Spain, 2001-2022.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Observational
- Identifying the Changing Landscape of Younger Adult Mortality in the United States from 1999 to 2021.The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine · 2025Observational
- Differences in the Rates of Diagnoses of Mental and Behavioral Disorders Due to Psychoactive Substance Use by Sex and Age during Pre-Pandemic and COVID-19 Pandemic Periods in Kazakhstan.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Assessing educational disparities in COVID-19 related excess mortality in Spain: a population register-linked mortality study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- A cost benefit analysis of a virtual overdose monitoring service/mobile overdose response service: the national overdose response service.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2023Article
- Vulnerable individuals and changes in suicidal behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea.BJPsych open · 2022Article
- Applicability of a national strategy for patient-oriented research to people who use(d) substances: a Canadian experience.Research involvement and engagement · 2022Article
- Association of the time spent on social media news with depression and suicidal ideation among a sample of Lebanese adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Lebanese economic crisis.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2022Article
- Canadian blood suppliers: An expanding role in public health surveillance?Canada communicable disease report = Releve des maladies transmissibles au Canada · 2022Article
- Characteristics of suicidal poisoned patients admitted to tertiary care center during COVID-19 pandemic.The Egyptian journal of neurology, psychiatry and neurosurgery · 2022Article
- Suicide and Suicide Attempts Among Patients Attending Primary Health Care Facilities in Uganda: A Medical Records Review.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2022Article
- Bull's eye or typhoon eye? Psychological distress and associated factors in Wuhan and surrounding areas during the COVID-19 pandemic.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo compare the mortality risk due to covid-19 with death due to overdose in British Columbia, Canada. The opioid epidemic was declared a public health emergency in 2016.
methodsMortality risk was calculated in micromorts with covid-19 data for January-October 2020, derived from the BC center for Disease Control, and illicit drug toxicity deaths for January 2010-September 2020, derived from the BC Coroners Service. Age-stratified covid-19 incidence and deaths per 100,000 population and age-stratified illicit drug toxicity death rates per 100,000 population were calculated. A micromort is a unit of risk equivalent to a one-in-a-million chance of death.
resultsDuring the covid-19 pandemic, illicit drug toxicity deaths reached 1.0 micromorts per day, representing an increase of 0.5 micromorts per day relative to 2019 rates. In comparison, covid-19 mortality risk was 0.05 micromorts per day among individuals from the general population living in British Columbia and 21.1 micromorts per day among those infected with covid-19. Covid-related mortality risk was significantly lower among individuals aged <60 years, relative to older adults, whereas drug toxicity-related mortality was highest for individuals aged 30-59 years.
conclusionsThe mortality associated with covid-19 is apparent and distributed unevenly across subpopulations. The mortality due to overdose has increased during covid-19 and exceeds mortality due to covid-19. Our results instantiate the triple threat caused by covid-19 (i.e., public health crisis, economic crisis and mental health crisis) and quantitatively highlight the externality of increased mortality due to deaths of despair in response to public health efforts to reduce covid-related mortality.
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