Teen deaths due to unintentional drug overdose at an all-time high

Among adolescents, deaths due to unintended drug overdoses reached a record high in 2020, reports a recent study. Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids were responsible for most of these deaths.

Drawing from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s online database, researchers investigated deaths related to unintentional overdoses between 2016 and 2020, focusing on adolescents aged 10–19 years. The Social Security Period of Life Table was used to calculate Years of life lost (YLL).

Between 2016 and 2019, YLLs due to unintentional overdoses in this population remained relatively stable, fluctuating between 37,000 and 44,000. In 2020, however, figures spiked by 113 percent relative to 2019 data, yielding a YLL of 84,179.

This effect was more pronounced in boys, in whom YLLs jumped by 121 percent, from 26,817 in 2019 to 59,274 in 2020. The increase was likewise large in girls, with YLLs growing by 95 percent, from 12,762 in 2019 to 24,905 in 2020. Of note, 13-year-old boys saw the largest increase in YLL, spiking by 600 percent from 64 in 2019 to 448 in 2020.

In 81 percent of the unintended overdose deaths, illicitly manufactured fentanyl and other synthetic opioids were deemed to be involved. During 2020, these drugs cost 68,356 in YLL, as opposed to only 26,628 and 19,868 YLLs in 2019 and 2018, respectively. Benzodiazepines (19 percent), methamphetamines (15 percent), and cocaine (11 percent) were also commonly cited in unintended overdose deaths, though to a much smaller degree.

“The emerging trends depicted in this study illustrate the need for local and state interventions to address increasing premature mortality rates and substantial impacts on local communities secondary to unintentional overdose,” the researchers said.