ArticlePediatrics2025
Changes in Synthetic Opioid-Involved Youth Overdose Deaths in the United States: 2018-2022.
Article in Pediatrics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
What it found
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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
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Opioid Use Disorder and Evidence-Based Care Among Medicaid-Enrolled Youths.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Medication and Acute Care Use in Young Adults With Opioid Use Subject to Medicaid Prescription Caps.JAMA health forum · 2026Article
- Evaluating pain management strategies following hypospadias repair: a survey of pediatric urologists.The Canadian journal of urology · 2026Article
- Differences in buprenorphine initiation and retention for opioid use disorder between primary care and substance use disorder specialty care settings.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2026Article
- Assessing knowledge, attitudes, and barriers to opioid overdose among college students.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Rising young worker despair in the United States.SSM - population health · 2026Article
- A Roadmap to Improved Quality Outcomes in Neonates Exposed to Illegally Manufactured Fentanyl.Journal of pediatrics. Clinical practice · 2025Article
- Prevention and Management of Opioid use Disorder and Overdose in Adolescents and Young Adults.Current psychiatry reports · 2025Review
- Prenatal fentanyl exposure affects social dominance and myelination patterns in the adult mouse brain.Neuropharmacology · 2025Article
- Barriers and Facilitators to Naloxone Access for Adolescents: A Narrative Review.Substance use : research and treatmentReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectiveYouth overdose deaths have remained elevated in recent years as the illicit drug supply has become increasingly contaminated with fentanyl and other synthetics. There is a need to better understand fatal drug combinations and how trends have changed over time and across sociodemographic groups in this age group.
methodsWe used the National Vital Statistics System's multiple cause of death datasets to examine trends in overdose deaths involving combinations of synthetic opioids with benzodiazepine, cocaine, heroin, prescription opioids, and other stimulants among US youth aged 15 to 24 years from 2018 to 2022 across age, sex, race and ethnicity, and region.
resultsOverdose death counts rose from 4652 to 6723 (10.85 to 15.16 per 100 000) between 2018 and 2022, with a slight decrease between 2021 and 2022. The largest increases were deaths involving synthetic opioids only (1.8 to 4.8 deaths per 100 000). Since 2020, fatal synthetic opioid-only overdose rates were higher than polydrug overdose rates involving synthetic opioids, regardless of race, ethnicity, or sex. In 2022, rates of synthetic-only overdose deaths were 2.49-times higher among male youths compared with female youths and 2.15-times higher among those aged 20 to 24 years compared with those aged 15 to 19 years.
conclusionsPolydrug combinations involving synthetic opioids continue to contribute to fatal youth overdoses, yet deaths attributed to synthetic opioids alone are increasingly predominant. These findings highlight the changing risks of the drug supply and the need for better access to harm-reduction services to prevent deaths among youth.
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