Preliminary research presented today at APHA’s 2017 Annual Meeting and Expo examined the trend in hospitalizations from opioid poisonings in West Virginia, a state heavily impacted by the current opioid overdose crisis.
Researchers with West Virginia University used data from Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s Integrated Data Repository electronic medical records to examine the rate of opioid poisonings resulting in hospitalization They found that overall opioid poisonings rates increased significantly from 2008 to 2015 among all age groups. Individuals ranging between 18 and 34 years had the highest increase in poisonings, attributed to both heroin and prescription opioids.
