Exploratory Analysis of Hospital Discharge Data to Identify Populations At-Risk for Cocaine-Involved Fatal Overdose — Rhode Island, October 1, 2020–December 31, 2024
- Presentation Day/Time: Thursday, April 23, 4:25 PM
- Presenter: Courtney Bearnot, MD, MPH, Rhode Island, Department of Health
The Issue
- In 2024, cocaine contributed to 61% of Rhode Island fatal overdoses, surpassing fentanyl-associated deaths for the first time since 2013. Cocaine use surveillance in Rhode Island is limited to mortality data, which might miss emerging trends or younger demographic groups.
What We Did
- To identify populations at risk for future cocaine-associated mortality, we analyzed nonfatal cocaine-associated health events and compared them with cocaine-involved deaths.
What We Found
- Our analysis of cocaine-associated emergency department (ED) visits and cocaine-involved deaths among adults in RI during October 2020–December 2024 found that non-Hispanic Blacks accounted for a higher percentage of cocaine-only ED visits than all-drug visits. We also found that, compared to those with a cocaine-only ED visit, cocaine-only deaths were more common among non-Hispanic Whites and people who were 55 years old or older.
What This Means
- Integrating hospital discharge data into statewide cocaine use surveillance might provide a more comprehensive demographic representation of people at risk of severe health problems and future death, therefore supporting focused overdose prevention strategies.
