The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Opioid Crisis in the U.S.

Kaiqing Man

doi:doi:10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15

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The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Opioid Crisis in the U.S.

Kaiqing Man

Published in Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 10, Issue 4)

Received: 26 July 2022 Accepted: 16 August 2022 Published: 24 August 2022

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Abstract

Opioid overdoses caused more than 500,000 deaths from 1999 to 2018 in the US and are now seen as an ongoing epidemic. It is still unclear how the opioid epidemic is affected by the recent COVID-19 pandemic in the US. The objectives of this paper are to find the correlation between COVID-19 and the opioid epidemic, determine if racial disparities in opioid overdose have been enlarged due to the pandemic, and investigate the moderating effects of telehealth on overdose rate and COVID-19. To study the correlation between COVID-19 and the opioid epidemic, This paper applys the least square regression method using different measures of COVID-19, such as total COVID-19 deaths and total COVID-19 cases, and different measures of opioid overdose deaths, such as the increase rate and death rate due to overdose. Surprisingly, this paper found a negative correlation between COVID-19 and overdose deaths, which suggests the existence of competing mortality risks between COVID-19 and drug overdoses. To further understand the heterogeneity in the impact of COVID-19 on racial disparities in opioid overdoses, this paper calculated the increase in drug overdose death rates between 2019 and 2020 for different race groups. This paper found that the Asian and Black/African American communities had the highest increases in the rate of drug overdose deaths. This paper then evaluated the role of telehealth in moderating the correlation between drug overdose and COVID-19 by using the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLCC). The IMLCC reduces the cost of providing telehealth support and induces the provision of telehealth services substantially. Specifically, this study compares the correlation between COVID-19 and the increase in the age-adjusted death rate due to drug overdose in IMLCC participation states and non-participation states. The correlation for non-participation states was greater than that of participation states, suggesting that telehealth has a moderating role between COVID-19 and drug overdose deaths. This paper’s findings first suggest that a re-work of the education system for physicians that teaches providers about biases against different race groups may help diminish racial disparities in opioid treatment and thus decrease the overall rate of overdose deaths. Furthermore, states that are most affected by COVID-19 should receive more federal funding in order to build better healthcare systems to treat those in need. More resources should also be dedicated to expanding telehealth, as it offers a promising low-cost solution to those unable to access in-person medical appointments and vital opioid treatment and reduces the impact of COVID-19 on the opioid epidemic.

Published in	Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 10, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15
Page(s)	193-198
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Opioid, COVID-19, Overdose, Telehealth, Racial Disparity, CDC, IMLCC

References

[1]	CDC. (2021, March 17). Understanding the Epidemic. https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html
[2]	Currie, J., & Schwandt, H. (2020). The opioid epidemic was not caused by economic distress but by factors that could be more rapidly addressed. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3658839
[3]	Blanchflower, D. G., & Bryson, A. (2022). Covid and mental health in America. PLOS ONE, 17 (7), e0269855. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269855
[4]	Dubey, M. J., Ghosh, R., Chatterjee, S., Biswas, P., Chatterjee, S., & Dubey, S. (2020). COVID-19 and addiction. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews, 14 (5), 817–823. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsx.2020.06.008
[5]	Lippold, K., & Ali, B. (2020). Racial/ethnic differences in opioid-involved overdose deaths across metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in the United States, 1999−2017. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 212, 108059. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108059
[6]	Chen, I., Kurz, J., Pasanen, M., Faselis, C., Panda, M., Staton, L. J., O’Rorke, J., Menon, M., Genao, I., Wood, J., Mechaber, A. J., Rosenberg, E., Carey, T., Calleson, D., & Cykert, S. (2005). Racial differences in opioid use for chronic nonmalignant pain. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 20 (7), 593–598. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-005-0105-5
[7]	Langabeer, J. R., Yatsco, A., & Champagne-Langabeer, T. (2021). Telehealth sustains patient engagement in OUD treatment during COVID-19. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 122, 108215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2020.108215
[8]	Davis, C. S., & Samuels, E. A. (2021). Continuing increased access to buprenorphine in the United States via telemedicine after COVID-19. International Journal of Drug Policy, 93, 102905. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102905
[9]	IMLCC. (n.d.). U.S. State Participation in the Compact. Retrieved July 11, 2022, from https://www.imlcc.org/
[10]	CDC. (2022, June 2). Death Rate Maps & Graphs. https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/deaths/
[11]	CDC. (2022, March 14). CDC WONDER. CDC WONDER. https://wonder.cdc.gov/
[12]	Singh, G. K., Kim, Jr., I. E., Girmay, M., Perry, C., Daus, G. P., Vedamuthu, I. P., de Los Reyes, A. A., Ramey, C. T., Martin, Jr., E. K., & Allender, M. (2019). Opioid Epidemic in the United States: Empirical Trends, and A Literature Review of Social Determinants and Epidemiological, Pain Management, and Treatment Patterns. International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and AIDS (IJMA), 8 (2), 89–100. https://doi.org/10.21106/ijma.284
[13]	Mogi, R., & Spijker, J. (2021). The influence of social and economic ties to the spread of COVID-19 in Europe. Journal of Population Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12546-021-09257-1
[14]	Amiri, S., McDonell, M. G., Denney, J. T., Buchwald, D., & Amram, O. (2021). Disparities in Access to Opioid Treatment Programs and Office-Based Buprenorphine Treatment Across the Rural-Urban and Area Deprivation Continua: A US Nationwide Small Area Analysis. Value in Health, 24 (2), 188–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2020.08.2098
[15]	Khatri, U. G., & Perrone, J. (2020). Opioid Use Disorder and COVID-19: Crashing of the Crises. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 14 (4), e6–e7. https://doi.org/10.1097/adm.0000000000000684

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Kaiqing Man. (2022). The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Opioid Crisis in the U.S.. Science Journal of Public Health, 10(4), 193-198. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15

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Kaiqing Man. The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Opioid Crisis in the U.S.. Sci. J. Public Health 2022, 10(4), 193-198. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15

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AMA Style

Kaiqing Man. The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Opioid Crisis in the U.S.. Sci J Public Health. 2022;10(4):193-198. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15

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@article{10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15,
  author = {Kaiqing Man},
  title = {The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Opioid Crisis in the U.S.},
  journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
  volume = {10},
  number = {4},
  pages = {193-198},
  doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20221004.15},
  abstract = {Opioid overdoses caused more than 500,000 deaths from 1999 to 2018 in the US and are now seen as an ongoing epidemic. It is still unclear how the opioid epidemic is affected by the recent COVID-19 pandemic in the US. The objectives of this paper are to find the correlation between COVID-19 and the opioid epidemic, determine if racial disparities in opioid overdose have been enlarged due to the pandemic, and investigate the moderating effects of telehealth on overdose rate and COVID-19. To study the correlation between COVID-19 and the opioid epidemic, This paper applys the least square regression method using different measures of COVID-19, such as total COVID-19 deaths and total COVID-19 cases, and different measures of opioid overdose deaths, such as the increase rate and death rate due to overdose. Surprisingly, this paper found a negative correlation between COVID-19 and overdose deaths, which suggests the existence of competing mortality risks between COVID-19 and drug overdoses. To further understand the heterogeneity in the impact of COVID-19 on racial disparities in opioid overdoses, this paper calculated the increase in drug overdose death rates between 2019 and 2020 for different race groups. This paper found that the Asian and Black/African American communities had the highest increases in the rate of drug overdose deaths. This paper then evaluated the role of telehealth in moderating the correlation between drug overdose and COVID-19 by using the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLCC). The IMLCC reduces the cost of providing telehealth support and induces the provision of telehealth services substantially. Specifically, this study compares the correlation between COVID-19 and the increase in the age-adjusted death rate due to drug overdose in IMLCC participation states and non-participation states. The correlation for non-participation states was greater than that of participation states, suggesting that telehealth has a moderating role between COVID-19 and drug overdose deaths. This paper’s findings first suggest that a re-work of the education system for physicians that teaches providers about biases against different race groups may help diminish racial disparities in opioid treatment and thus decrease the overall rate of overdose deaths. Furthermore, states that are most affected by COVID-19 should receive more federal funding in order to build better healthcare systems to treat those in need. More resources should also be dedicated to expanding telehealth, as it offers a promising low-cost solution to those unable to access in-person medical appointments and vital opioid treatment and reduces the impact of COVID-19 on the opioid epidemic.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Opioid Crisis in the U.S.
AU  - Kaiqing Man
Y1  - 2022/08/24
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15
T2  - Science Journal of Public Health
JF  - Science Journal of Public Health
JO  - Science Journal of Public Health
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PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-7950
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AB  - Opioid overdoses caused more than 500,000 deaths from 1999 to 2018 in the US and are now seen as an ongoing epidemic. It is still unclear how the opioid epidemic is affected by the recent COVID-19 pandemic in the US. The objectives of this paper are to find the correlation between COVID-19 and the opioid epidemic, determine if racial disparities in opioid overdose have been enlarged due to the pandemic, and investigate the moderating effects of telehealth on overdose rate and COVID-19. To study the correlation between COVID-19 and the opioid epidemic, This paper applys the least square regression method using different measures of COVID-19, such as total COVID-19 deaths and total COVID-19 cases, and different measures of opioid overdose deaths, such as the increase rate and death rate due to overdose. Surprisingly, this paper found a negative correlation between COVID-19 and overdose deaths, which suggests the existence of competing mortality risks between COVID-19 and drug overdoses. To further understand the heterogeneity in the impact of COVID-19 on racial disparities in opioid overdoses, this paper calculated the increase in drug overdose death rates between 2019 and 2020 for different race groups. This paper found that the Asian and Black/African American communities had the highest increases in the rate of drug overdose deaths. This paper then evaluated the role of telehealth in moderating the correlation between drug overdose and COVID-19 by using the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLCC). The IMLCC reduces the cost of providing telehealth support and induces the provision of telehealth services substantially. Specifically, this study compares the correlation between COVID-19 and the increase in the age-adjusted death rate due to drug overdose in IMLCC participation states and non-participation states. The correlation for non-participation states was greater than that of participation states, suggesting that telehealth has a moderating role between COVID-19 and drug overdose deaths. This paper’s findings first suggest that a re-work of the education system for physicians that teaches providers about biases against different race groups may help diminish racial disparities in opioid treatment and thus decrease the overall rate of overdose deaths. Furthermore, states that are most affected by COVID-19 should receive more federal funding in order to build better healthcare systems to treat those in need. More resources should also be dedicated to expanding telehealth, as it offers a promising low-cost solution to those unable to access in-person medical appointments and vital opioid treatment and reduces the impact of COVID-19 on the opioid epidemic.
VL  - 10
IS  - 4
ER  -

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Author Information

Kaiqing Man

Hillfield Strathallan College, Oakville, Canada

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APA Style

Kaiqing Man. (2022). The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Opioid Crisis in the U.S.. Science Journal of Public Health, 10(4), 193-198. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15

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ACS Style

Kaiqing Man. The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Opioid Crisis in the U.S.. Sci. J. Public Health 2022, 10(4), 193-198. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15

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AMA Style

Kaiqing Man. The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Opioid Crisis in the U.S.. Sci J Public Health. 2022;10(4):193-198. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15,
  author = {Kaiqing Man},
  title = {The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Opioid Crisis in the U.S.},
  journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
  volume = {10},
  number = {4},
  pages = {193-198},
  doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20221004.15},
  abstract = {Opioid overdoses caused more than 500,000 deaths from 1999 to 2018 in the US and are now seen as an ongoing epidemic. It is still unclear how the opioid epidemic is affected by the recent COVID-19 pandemic in the US. The objectives of this paper are to find the correlation between COVID-19 and the opioid epidemic, determine if racial disparities in opioid overdose have been enlarged due to the pandemic, and investigate the moderating effects of telehealth on overdose rate and COVID-19. To study the correlation between COVID-19 and the opioid epidemic, This paper applys the least square regression method using different measures of COVID-19, such as total COVID-19 deaths and total COVID-19 cases, and different measures of opioid overdose deaths, such as the increase rate and death rate due to overdose. Surprisingly, this paper found a negative correlation between COVID-19 and overdose deaths, which suggests the existence of competing mortality risks between COVID-19 and drug overdoses. To further understand the heterogeneity in the impact of COVID-19 on racial disparities in opioid overdoses, this paper calculated the increase in drug overdose death rates between 2019 and 2020 for different race groups. This paper found that the Asian and Black/African American communities had the highest increases in the rate of drug overdose deaths. This paper then evaluated the role of telehealth in moderating the correlation between drug overdose and COVID-19 by using the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLCC). The IMLCC reduces the cost of providing telehealth support and induces the provision of telehealth services substantially. Specifically, this study compares the correlation between COVID-19 and the increase in the age-adjusted death rate due to drug overdose in IMLCC participation states and non-participation states. The correlation for non-participation states was greater than that of participation states, suggesting that telehealth has a moderating role between COVID-19 and drug overdose deaths. This paper’s findings first suggest that a re-work of the education system for physicians that teaches providers about biases against different race groups may help diminish racial disparities in opioid treatment and thus decrease the overall rate of overdose deaths. Furthermore, states that are most affected by COVID-19 should receive more federal funding in order to build better healthcare systems to treat those in need. More resources should also be dedicated to expanding telehealth, as it offers a promising low-cost solution to those unable to access in-person medical appointments and vital opioid treatment and reduces the impact of COVID-19 on the opioid epidemic.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Opioid Crisis in the U.S.
AU  - Kaiqing Man
Y1  - 2022/08/24
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15
T2  - Science Journal of Public Health
JF  - Science Journal of Public Health
JO  - Science Journal of Public Health
SP  - 193
EP  - 198
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-7950
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20221004.15
AB  - Opioid overdoses caused more than 500,000 deaths from 1999 to 2018 in the US and are now seen as an ongoing epidemic. It is still unclear how the opioid epidemic is affected by the recent COVID-19 pandemic in the US. The objectives of this paper are to find the correlation between COVID-19 and the opioid epidemic, determine if racial disparities in opioid overdose have been enlarged due to the pandemic, and investigate the moderating effects of telehealth on overdose rate and COVID-19. To study the correlation between COVID-19 and the opioid epidemic, This paper applys the least square regression method using different measures of COVID-19, such as total COVID-19 deaths and total COVID-19 cases, and different measures of opioid overdose deaths, such as the increase rate and death rate due to overdose. Surprisingly, this paper found a negative correlation between COVID-19 and overdose deaths, which suggests the existence of competing mortality risks between COVID-19 and drug overdoses. To further understand the heterogeneity in the impact of COVID-19 on racial disparities in opioid overdoses, this paper calculated the increase in drug overdose death rates between 2019 and 2020 for different race groups. This paper found that the Asian and Black/African American communities had the highest increases in the rate of drug overdose deaths. This paper then evaluated the role of telehealth in moderating the correlation between drug overdose and COVID-19 by using the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLCC). The IMLCC reduces the cost of providing telehealth support and induces the provision of telehealth services substantially. Specifically, this study compares the correlation between COVID-19 and the increase in the age-adjusted death rate due to drug overdose in IMLCC participation states and non-participation states. The correlation for non-participation states was greater than that of participation states, suggesting that telehealth has a moderating role between COVID-19 and drug overdose deaths. This paper’s findings first suggest that a re-work of the education system for physicians that teaches providers about biases against different race groups may help diminish racial disparities in opioid treatment and thus decrease the overall rate of overdose deaths. Furthermore, states that are most affected by COVID-19 should receive more federal funding in order to build better healthcare systems to treat those in need. More resources should also be dedicated to expanding telehealth, as it offers a promising low-cost solution to those unable to access in-person medical appointments and vital opioid treatment and reduces the impact of COVID-19 on the opioid epidemic.
VL  - 10
IS  - 4
ER  -

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