Sarah B. Henderson: Hot Weather and Mortality Related to Acute Cocaine, Opiod, and Amphetamine Toxicity in BC.

Drug use can affect thermoregulation, which may lead to higher risk of morbidity and mortality during hot weather. We examined ~2000 summertime deaths attributed to acute cocaine, opioid, and/or amphetamine toxicity using a case-crossover design. On the hottest days, mortality was most consistently associated with evidence of cocaine toxicity, either alone or in combination with the other substances. When cocaine was present alone or with opioids, the odds ratio [95% confidence interval] for mortality was approximately 1.5 [1.0, 2.0]. When cocaine, opioids, and amphetamines were combined, the odds ratio increased to 3.0 [1.5, 7.0] though the number of decedents was small. Overall, these results suggest that specific public health messaging is needed for drug users during hot weather events. : TEAM: Sarah B. Henderson, Jiayun Yao, Yue Ding, David McVea, Tom Kosatsky

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10/15/2020 5:05:00 PM