Rutgers receives grant to explore drug overdose trends among youth

With a $2.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Rutgers researchers will conduct a five-year study exploring trends in drug overdoses in adolescents and young adults.

Drug overdose deaths have risen sharply over the past decade, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, yet many people survive an overdose event. In the case of a nonfatal overdose, Rutgers Health researchers said a prime opportunity for intervention exists while a patient is being treated for the overdose. However, limited data are available to assess what happens when a patient is discharged from the hospital after a nonfatal overdose.

Experiencing one nonfatal overdose increases your chances of having another overdose that could potentially be fatal. Life-threatening drug overdoses often mean patients need mental health or addiction treatment, yet we don't always know if patients are connected with those vital services or what types of follow up care they receive."

Hillary Samples, core member of the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science at Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research

Samples, the lead principal investigator of the National Institute on Drug Abuse-backed project, and fellow principal investigator of the study, Greta Bushnell, also of the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science, will look at national Medicaid data from adolescents and young adults ages 12 to 29 who have experienced a drug overdose since 2016. The study will examine overdose types – including the drugs involved and if the overdose was intentional self-poisoning, any treatments that were received after the overdose, and whether treatment reduces the risk of repeat overdoses and death.

Researchers said behavioral health treatment for adolescents and young adults can play an important role in preventing future overdose and mortality from drug poisoning, suicide and related causes of death.

With 10 years of recent data from the largest source of health insurance for youth in the U.S., researchers will be able to evaluate data in the context of an evolving drug environment, which includes the rise of fentanyl and other novel drugs, and changes in risk levels between developmental stages, including early to late adolescence into emerging and young adulthood.

"The goal of this research is to inform strategies used by clinicians that will improve post-overdose interventions and prevent future overdoses and deaths in this vulnerable population," said Samples, an assistant professor at Rutgers School of Public Health.

The grant was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.