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Abstract #156080

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Nabarun Dasgupta, MPH, Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health, McGavran-Greenberg, CB 7435, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, 9192603808, nabarund@unc.edu, J. Elise Bailey, MSPH, Denver Health, Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, 777 Bannock Street, Mail Code 0180, Denver, CO 80204, Richard C. Dart, MD, PhD, Rocky Mountain Poison & Drug Center, 777 Bannock Street, Mail Code 0180, Denver, CO 80204, and Michele Jonsson Funk, PhD, Shepps Center for Health Services Research & Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health, 725 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, CB 7521, Chapel Hill, NC 27599.

Results from national substance use reporting systems are of limited value because they are not geographically specific and their publication is delayed by years. Previous studies suggested a small proportion of poisoning deaths are reported to poison centers (PC). However, human exposure calls to PCs may be an alternate indicator of mortality. To investigate this, we used call counts for prescription opioids handled by 15 PCs in 17 states that were reported to the Researched Abuse, Diversion and Addiction-Related Surveillance (RADARS^®) System in 2003 and 2004. Death certificate data from the National Center for Health Statistics were used to identify deaths due to prescription opioids based on ICD-10 toxicology codes for short-acting opioids (T40.2) and methadone (T40.3). Linear correlation and negative binomial regression were used to compare counts from PC calls and death certificates, by state and quarter. R-square correlations were 0.72 and 0.42, for short-acting opioids and methadone respectively. Zero-inflated models were not favored; adjustment for PC penetrance improved model fit. Negative binomial regression models had better predictive capability for short-acting opioids than methadone, when controlling for penetrance and calendar quarter. Our results suggest that calls to PCs for short-acting prescription opioids are strongly correlated with mortality due to poisoning from short-acting opioids as identified on death certificates. Including penetrance in regression models yielded improved fit and should be considered when analyzing PC data. Calls received by poison centers may be used for timely and geographically-specific surveillance of mortality due to prescription opioids.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. Construct a surveillance system for prescription opioid mortality using poison center data.
• 2. Describe how poison center exposure calls can be used for timely and geographically-specific predictors of poisoning mortality from prescription opioids.
• 3. Evaluate limitations of using poison center and death certificate data.

Keywords: Substance Abuse, Epidemiology

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

• Audio (mp3) recording
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• Multimedia recording