Unintentional drug overdose deaths involving cocaine among middle-aged and older adults in New York City.

BACKGROUND Cocaine is commonly involved in unintentional drug poisoning (overdose) deaths, accounting for 46% of overdose deaths in New York City (NYC) in 2016. However, little research exists regarding cocaine use by middle-aged and older adults, who are more likely than younger individuals to have underlying cardiovascular disease (CVD) and therefore, may be at increased risk for the adverse health consequences of cocaine. METHODS We conducted a retrospective analysis of unintentional drug overdose deaths of middle-aged and older NYC residents age 45-84 from 2000 to 2016 using two linked sources, NYC death certificates and toxicology results from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. RESULTS From 2000 to 2016, there were 6061 unintentional drug overdose deaths among New Yorkers age 45-84. Of those, cocaine was involved in 53% (n = 3183). Co-occurring opioid involvement (fentanyl, heroin, methadone, or opioid analgesics) among deaths involving cocaine was common (58%). Compared to decedents of non-cocaine involved overdose, decedents of cocaine-involved overdose were more likely to be male and non-Latino Black. Multivariable analysis showed that adults age 45-54 (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.34, 95% 1.05, 1.70), males (AOR = 1.30, 95% CI 1.15, 1.46), Bronx residence (AOR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.08, 1.54), and non-Latino black race/ethnicity (AOR = 2.37, 95% CI 2.07, 2.72) were independently associated with cocaine-involved overdose. CONCLUSION Characteristics of decedents of cocaine-involved overdose overlap with populations with high CVD burden in NYC. Studies are needed to better understand the risks of cocaine among adults with underlying CVD.

• Publication year

  2019

• Venue

  Drug and Alcohol Dependence

• Publication date

  2019-05-01

• Fields of study

  Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.01.042PMID 30909019PMCID PMC6467745
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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