Staggering increase in opioid-related deaths among people experiencing homelessness, new study finds

Individuals experiencing homelessness account for an growing proportion of deadly opioid-related deaths in Ontario, Canada, reaching one in six such deaths by 2021, in keeping with new analysis from ICES, Western College and Lawson Well being Analysis Institute.

In one of many first studies to trace the continual improve in opioid-related mortality within the province amongst folks experiencing homelessness, researchers discovered that the quarterly proportion of opioid-related overdose deaths amongst unhoused people elevated from 7.2% (26 deaths) within the interval of July to September 2017 to 16.8% (97 deaths) by April to June 2021.

“On common, that is one homeless particular person dropping their life to an opioid overdose daily, one yr into the COVID-19 pandemic,” says lead creator Richard Sales space, adjunct scientist at ICES and affiliate professor and Arthur Labatt Household Analysis Chair in Nursing at Western College. “Unhoused persons are overrepresented amongst opioid-related deaths, and the scenario has reached a important level following the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The examine, titled “Opioid-related overdose deaths amongst folks experiencing homelessness, 2017 to 2021: a population-based evaluation utilizing coroner and well being administrative knowledge from Ontario, Canada,” was revealed within the journal Habit and analyzed linked coroner and well being report knowledge. Over the four-year examine interval, 6,644 people (common age of 40 and 74% male) had an accidental death attributable to an opioid-related overdose and the investigating coroner recognized 884 (13%) as experiencing homelessness on the time of death.

Examine findings present:

• Individuals experiencing homelessness accounted for one in 14 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2017 and one in six deaths in 2021; nonetheless, this statistic doubled to 1 in three deaths when contemplating people who had skilled homelessness within the yr previous to their demise.
• Whereas opioid overdose deaths within the province elevated two-fold over the four-year timeframe, deaths among the many unhoused noticed an almost four-fold improve.
• Unhoused people who died have been usually youthful (61.3% versus 53.1%, between 25 and 44 years), resided in main city facilities, and have been extra more likely to have lately accessed well being care companies for mental health or substance use disorders, in comparison with housed people who died.
• On the time of the overdose, people experiencing homelessness have been extra usually within the presence of a bystander and have been extra more likely to have a resuscitation try or naloxone administered.

“Lack of housing can affect folks’s patterns of substance use, which might introduce appreciable threat for folks accessing Ontario’s extremely potent, unpredictable illicit drug provide,” says Tara Gomes, a senior scientist at ICES and the Li Ka Shing Data Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital. “Entry to low-barrier housing ought to be a central technique paired with improved accessibility to therapy and hurt discount companies tailor-made to the wants of individuals experiencing homelessness.”

One limitation of the examine was the tactic of classifying a person’s housing standing, which could be difficult to evaluate on the time of demise. It is attainable that some people have been experiencing “hidden homelessness,” which is when folks dwell with insufficient housing or keep away from utilizing homelessness helps and companies.

Nonetheless, this is likely one of the first population-based research to trace the growing proportion of deaths from opioid-related overdoses within the inhabitants of Ontarians experiencing homelessness. The findings underscore the urgency of the scenario, and the necessity for efficient coverage and interventions to handle the opioid epidemic, which coincides with a extreme housing scarcity in Ontario.

Offered by
Institute for Medical Evaluative Sciences