Untangling the Roots of the West Virginia Opioid Crisis: Relationships in Adolescent Pregnancy, Drug Abuse, and Future Outcomes

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between teenage pregnancy and negative health outcomes, including drug abuse, among West Virginia female youth. Methods: Data was acquired for females between 10 and 19 years of age, by county, from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. Pearson correlation analysis was utilized to examine the relationship between the teenage pregnancy rate and drug related statistics, pregnancy related statistics, heart health related statistics, and environmental variables. This study was conducted from July 2018 to March 2019 at West Virginia University. Results: Teenage pregnancy is correlated to harmful behavioral adaptations that may increase a women’s health risks. We find that teenage pregnancy, regardless of pregnancy outcome, is correlated with increased drug overdose death rates for women, as well as health concerns that increase one’s risk for heart disease. Conclusions: Teenage pregnancy is correlated to a number of outcomes including drug overdose rates and impaired heart health outcomes. Reduction of unintended teenage pregnancy may be useful as a non-traditional method of ameliorating the opioid abuse crisis in the state of West Virginia.