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(Rutgers) 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,” said Hillary Samples, a core member of the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science at Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research. “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.”