Non-fatal overdose in the 12 months following treatment for substance use disorders

Abstract

Background Overdose (OD) is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity for individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs), and there are limited prospective data on OD during the months following treatment for SUDs. Methods Variables associated with an OD in the 12 months after leaving an initial treatment episode were examined in an analysis of the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcomes Study (DATOS), a longitudinal naturalistic multisite study. Participants included 2966 patients with one or more SUDs. Non-fatal OD was ascertained by a positive response to “In the past 12 months, have you overdosed on drugs?” Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify variables associated with OD. Results By 12 months, 93 (3.1%) participants reported one or more ODs. Variables associated with OD were lifetime history of OD, injection drug use (IDU), male sex, greater pain, and history of sexual abuse. Conclusions OD-risk appears to be increased by IDU, lifetime OD, sexual abuse history, and pain. The latter finding is novel for a prospective report and requires further study.