Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic, Social Vulnerability, and Opioid Overdoses in Chicago

Abstract

This research was undertaken to examine the individual and neighborhood drivers that contributed to increases in opioid overdose deaths (OODs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The incident location and CDC social vulnerability index (along with the individual indicators) were then geocoded to one of the 77 Chicago Community Areas (CCAs). Changes in OOD rates were calculated and compared for each CCA using linear regression between 2019 and 2020. OODs increased by 45% from 2019 to 2020. CCAs in the highest 25th percentile of social vulnerability before the pandemic had a 2.8 times higher rate of OODs when compared to CCAs in the lowest 25th percentile. The increase in OOD rate observed from 2019 to 2020 was 10.2 times higher in the most social vulnerable CCAs compared to the least vulnerable communities. CCAs with the highest degree of social vulnerability had a higher baseline and disproportionate relative increase in OOD rate compared to least vulnerable CCAs. COVID-19 has revealed the urgent need for policies that better support the social and economic security of disadvantaged communities, particularly for residents who use opioids.