334966
Racial disparities in Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome in Maricopa County AZ 2008-2013
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
: 11:10 a.m. - 11:20 a.m.
Last spring the Center for Disease Control & Prevention, reported 259 million prescriptions for Opioid-pain-relievers-(OPR) were prescribed in the United States (US) in 2012. Within the last decade overprescribing of OPR has increased the population’s risk to fatal overdoses and prescription drug misuse and abuse (RXMUA). However Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is a burden of OPR overprescribing affecting solely mothers and newborns. NAS occurs when newborns are cut-off from licit/ illicit drugs received during pregnancy, from a substance abuse mother. Arizona ranks 26 for OPR and 12 for High dose OPR prescribing rate per 100 persons (82.4 and 5.5, respectively). Maricopa County accounts for at least 60% of the population in Arizona and is the fourth populous county in the US. Purpose: Determine the incidence of NAS and compare NAS and other substance use related (OS) rates among racial/ethnicity newborns in Maricopa County, AZ from 2008-2013. Method: Hospital-Discharge-Data for newborns were analyzed for Hospitalization due to NAS and OS from 2008-2013. ICD-9-CM codes were analyzed separately for all diagnosis codes relating to NAS and OS for newborns. Percentage and birth rate per 1,000 live births of NAS and OS were analyzed by drug group and race/ethnicity overtime. Results: During 2008-2013 846 newborns had an underlying ICD-9-CM diagnosis code for NAS. In regards to drug type narcotics was found to be the most common drug and alcohol was the least common affecting fetus or newborn via placenta or breast milk. There was a 126% increase in the rate for NAS from 2009 (1.5) to 2011 (3.4). Race-adjusted rate for narcotics found in black and American Indian newborns was 10.3 and 10.5 respectively. Conclusion: The rate of NAS has gradually increased and followed the similar trend in the number of OPR prescribed in Maricopa County, AZ from 2008-2013. There are health disparities that exist among the racial/ethnic babies born from substance abuse mothers.
Learning Areas:
Epidemiology
Public health or related education
Learning Objectives:
Describe the incidence of NAS and OS rates among racial/ethnicity newborns
Compare NAS and other-substance-use-related (OS) rates among racial/ethnicity newborns
Keyword(s): MCH Epidemiology, Prescription Drug Abuse and Misuse
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have years of experience working in substance abuse and minority populations. I experience with analyzing health data, assessing risk, and data analysis from working with local, state, and federal governments.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
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.
