ArticleAddiction (Abingdon, England)2023
Changes to opioid overdose deaths and community naloxone access among Black, Hispanic and White people from 2016 to 2021 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: An interrupted time-series analysis in Massachusetts, USA.
Article in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Local level of social inequity moderates implementation of evidence-based practices tailored to minoritized populations to reduce opioid overdose deaths.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2026Trial
- Evaluating demographic variation in no-cost naloxone distribution in North Carolina: a cross-sectional survey study.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- Illicit drug supply, naloxone availability, and overdose mortality in the fentanyl era: a systematic review.Health affairs scholar · 2026Review
- Reach of Community-Selected Strategies to Reduce Opioid-Related Overdose Deaths in the HEALing Communities Study.Substance use & misuse · 2026Article
- Post-overdose outreach programs in Massachusetts before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2025Article
- High variation in purity of consumer-level illicit fentanyl samples in Los Angeles, September 2023-April 2025.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- Emergency medical system response, emergency department visits, and hospital admissions in response to non-fatal opioid overdoses reported by a cohort of overdose survivors in San Francisco and Boston, 2019 - 2022.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2025Article
- Establishing a community advisory board to align harm reduction research with the unique needs of Black and Latine communities.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- The 2016 CDC Opioid Guideline and Analgesic Prescribing Patterns in Older Adults With Cancer.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Improving racial/ethnic health equity and naloxone access among people at risk for opioid overdose: A simulation modeling analysis of community-based naloxone distribution strategies in Massachusetts, United States.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Decoding prognostic factors in SARS-CoV-2 complications among patients with hematological disorders.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2025Article
- Addressing Racial and Ethnic Inequities in Opioid Overdose Mortality: Strategies for Equitable Interventions and Structural Change.Current psychiatry reports · 2024Review
- Multilevel Factors Impacting Substance Use Treatment Access, Engagement, and Racial Equity Among Opioid Overdose Survivors in Boston, MA.Journal of general internal medicine · 2024Article
- Understanding and Addressing Widening Racial Inequalities in Drug Overdose.The American journal of psychiatry · 2024Review
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsThe onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was associated with a surge in opioid overdose deaths in Massachusetts, particularly affecting racial and ethnic minority communities. We aimed to compare the impact of the pandemic on opioid overdose fatalities and naloxone distribution from community-based programs across racial and ethnic groups in Massachusetts.
designInterrupted time-series. SETTING AND CASES: Opioid overdose deaths (OODs) among non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic and non-Hispanic other race people in Massachusetts, USA (January 2016 to June 2021). MEASUREMENTS: Rate of OODs per 100 000 people, rate of naloxone kits distributed per 100 000 people and ratio of naloxone kits per opioid overdose death as a measure of naloxone availability. We applied five imputation strategies using complete data in different periods to account for missingness of race and ethnicity for naloxone data.
findingsBefore COVID-19 (January 2016 to February 2020), the rate of OODs declined among non-Hispanic White people [0.2% monthly reduction (95% confidence interval = 0.0-0.4%)], yet was relatively constant among all other population groups. The rate of naloxone kits increased across all groups (0.8-1.2% monthly increase) and the ratio of naloxone kits per OOD death among non-Hispanic White was 1.1% (0.8-1.4%) and among Hispanic people was 1.0% (0.2-1.8%). After the onset of the pandemic (March 2020+), non-Hispanic Black people experienced an immediate increase in the rate of OODs [63.6% (16.4-130%)], whereas rates among other groups remained similar. Trends in naloxone rescue kit distribution did not substantively change among any groups, and the ratio of naloxone kits per OOD death for non-Hispanic Black people did not compensate for the surge in OODs deaths in this group.
conclusionsWith the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a surge in opioid overdose deaths among non-Hispanic Black people in Massachusetts, USA with no compensatory increase in naloxone rescue kit distribution. For non-Hispanic White and Hispanic people, opioid overdose deaths remained stable and naloxone kit distribution continued to increase.
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