Trends and Patterns of Opioid Epidemic: A Large-Scale Retrospective Study of Hospital Visits with Opioid Poisoning in New York State, 2010-2016

ABSTRACT Introduction To discover trends and patterns of opioid poisoning and the demographic and regional disparities by analyzing large scale patient visits data in New York State (NYS). Methods Demographic, spatial, temporal and correlation analyses were performed for all OP patients extracted from the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) from 2010 to 2016, along with Decennial US Census and American Community Survey zip code level data. The study is based on claims data. 58,481 patients with at least one OP diagnosis and a valid NYS zip code address were included. OP patient counts and rates per 100,000 population; patient level factors (gender, age, race and ethnicity, residential zip code); zip code level social demographic factors. Analyses were completed between 2017 and 2019. Results In this study of 58,481 patients with opioid poisoning (OP) in New York State from 2010 to 2016, the OP rate increased by 364.6%, and by 741.5% for the age group > 65 years. There were wide disparities among groups by race and ethnicity on rates and age distributions of OP. Heroin and non-Heroin based OP rates show distinct temporal trends as well as major geospatial variation. Conclusions The findings highlight strong demographic disparity of OP patients, evolving patterns and substantial geospatial variation.