The Authors’ Own Words:
We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.
John R. Marshall, MD, MPH; Stephen F. Gassner, BA; Craig L. Anderson, PhD; Richelle J. Cooper, MD, MSHS; Shahram Lotfipour; MD, MPH; Bharath Chakravarthy, MD, MPH
Substance Abuse Vol. 40, Iss. 1, 2019
“Successfully combating the opioid epidemic requires a thorough understanding of the socioeconomic factors of the population targeted. This ecologic study within Orange County, California aims to establish the prevalence of opioid related overdose deaths and estimate associations with socioeconomic indicators. Recent literature found that despite down-trending death rates due to prescription opioids, overall opioid death rates have been increasing largely due to the increase in heroin use. Similar results were found in this study as well as an alarming need to address the heroin problem amongst homeless population as well as other issues such as polysubstance co-ingestion, opioid abuse in older persons, and opioid abuse in lower socioeconomic status areas. Opioid abuse is a disease that does not recognize geographic boundaries fully treat this epidemic will require expanding interventions both geographically and socioeconomically.“
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