Heather Palis - Examining chronic disease diagnoses and health service utilization among people who died of illicit stimulant and/or opioid toxicity

In British Columbia (BC), illicit drug toxicity (IDT) is the leading cause of death for people aged 10-59. While IDT deaths are driven by potent opioids such as fentanyl, stimulants are increasingly detected in illicit drug toxicity deaths in BC. We analyzed all concluded investigations of IDT death (2015-19) in BC where opioids and/or stimulants were deemed relevant to the death to identify differences in chronic disease diagnoses and health service utilization prior to death, by IDT death type. Findings may inform health system interventions that can build on existing health service contacts to increase coordination between chronic disease care and harm reduction and substance use services.

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10/10/2023 7:20:00 PM