ArticleHealth promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice2024
Accidental substance-related acute toxicity deaths among youth in Canada: a descriptive analysis of a national chart review study of coroner and medical examiner data.
Article in Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Substance use and co-occurring mental health conditions among adolescents and young adults in North America: a systematic review.BMC psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Accidental and intentional poisonings in Colombia (2015-2023): Social and territorial inequalities affecting public health.Toxicology reports · 2026Article
- Polysubstance use in Canada: prevalence, patterns, and self-reported harms from the 2023 Canadian Substance Use Survey.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Developmental variation in basal ganglia tissue iron, neurocognitive functioning, and impulsivity is associated with substance use trajectories in youth.Nature communications · 2026Article
- The stakes of stimulant use, psychosis, and antipsychotic treatment among youth who use drugs: A longitudinal qualitative study.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2025Article
- Developmental variation in dopamine neurobiology, neurocognitive functioning, and impulsivity shape substance use trajectories in youth.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Substance-Related Acute Toxicity Deaths in Canada From 2016 to 2017: Protocol for a Retrospective Chart Review Study of Coroner and Medical Examiner Files.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2025Article
- Engagement of people with lived and living experience in the editorial process: reflections on the special series on the unregulated drug toxicity crisis in Canada.Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice · 2024Article
- A comparison of the characteristics of accidental substance-related acute toxicity deaths in Canada across life stages, 2016-2017.Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice · 2024Article
- Review
- Using death investigation data to better understand the overdose crisis.Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionSubstance-related acute toxicity deaths (ATDs) are a public health crisis in Canada. Youth are often at higher risk for substance use due to social, environmental and structural factors. The objectives of this study were to understand the characteristics of youth (aged 12-24 years) dying of accidental acute toxicity in Canada and examine the substances contributing to and circumstances surrounding youth ATDs.
methodsData from a national chart review study of coroner and medical examiner data on ATDs that occurred in Canada between 2016 and 2017 were used to conduct descriptive analyses with proportions, mortality rates and proportionate mortality rates. Where possible, youth in the chart review study were compared with youth in the general population and youth who died of all causes, using census data.
resultsOf the 732 youth who died of accidental acute toxicity in 2016-2017, most (94%) were aged 18 to 24 years. Youth aged 20 to 24 who were unemployed, unhoused or living in collective housing were overrepresented among accidental ATDs. Many of the youth aged 12 to 24 who died of accidental acute toxicity had a documented history of substance use. Fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine were the most common substances contributing to death, and 38% of the deaths were witnessed or potentially witnessed.
conclusionThe findings of this study point to the need for early prevention and harm reduction strategies and programs that address mental health, exposure to trauma, unemployment and housing instability to reduce the harms of substance use on Canadian youth.
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Registered trials
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