Narrowing of the Racial Gap In Opioid-Involved Deaths: Implications for Public Health Policy & Practice

Published 20th January, 2021 – Public Health Issues and Practices, https://doi.org/10.33790/jphip1100175

Opioid overdose death rates  in the United States has been increasing over the past several years.  This increasing trend has been seen in states across the country. Previous studies have highlighted that opioid-involved deaths have occurred mostly in non-Hispanic Whites. The objectives of this study were to compare opioid deaths death trends in U. S. to a state, Louisiana, compare opioid death trends in Louisiana urban and suburban areas, and evaluate changes in the overall trends, as well as across race and gender, that may affect public health policy and practice.

This study confirmed that the opioid epidemic in the U.S. is also occurring in Louisiana. The increasing trends in age-adjusted rate of Opioid-involved deaths in Louisiana has mimicked what has occurred in the U.S. However, the changing trends in the rate of opioid-involved deaths indicate a narrowing of the gap between non-Hispanic Whites and non-Hispanic Blacks, and males and females. A call is made for  appropriate public health practices and health policies to address this trend and to mitigate the opioid epidemic.

Published in the Journal of Public Health Issues and Practices in the Volume 5. 2021. 175 on January 20, 2021 it is co-authored by Peter J. Fos, Ph.D., D.D.S., M.P.H., Professor of Health Sciences and Research Professor, Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center, Dillard University, Peggy A. Honoré, D.H.A, Professor, Health Policy & Systems Management Program, LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, School of Public Health & School of Medicine, and Katrina P. Kellum, D.N.P., Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, Dillard University.

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Picture: Dr. Peggy A. Honore
Picture: Dr. Peter Fos
Picture: Dr. Peter Fos
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