Breaking Bad: Methamphetamine Overdose Deaths — New Mexico, 2014

Monday, June 20, 2016: 5:06 PM
Tubughnenq' 3, Dena'ina Convention Center
Nicole A Middaugh , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Deborah Thompson , New Mexico Department of Health, Santa Fe, NM
Jennifer G. Wright , EIS Field Coordinator, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Michael Landen , New Mexico Department of Health, Santa Fe, NM
BACKGROUND: The New Mexico (NM) methamphetamine overdose death (MOD) rate approximately tripled from 2.1 to 6.2/100,000 during 2011–2014. In 2013, NM ranked second nationally for amphetamine-related deaths. To characterize the population in need of prevention and treatment efforts, a descriptive analysis of 2014 MODs was performed.

METHODS: Drug overdose death and toxicology data were abstracted from NM Office of the Medical Investigator reports and from CDC’s Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research. We identified MODs by using manner of death coding and text recognition; drug classes were identified from autopsy and toxicology reports. Decedent characteristics of MODs were compared with other classes of drug overdoses and with MODs co-occurring with other classes. 

RESULTS: During 2014, NM reported 463 drug overdose deaths; methamphetamine was a cause in 104 (22.5%). Multiple substances were involved in 58.7% (61/104) of MODs; of these, 37/61 (60.7%) involved heroin, 27/61 (44.3%) involved prescription opioids, 11/61 (18.0%) involved cocaine, and 10/61 (16.4%) involved benzodiazepines. Among 104 MODs, 71 (68.7%) were men (mean age: 43.1 years; range: 20.1–74.3 years); 96 (92.3%) were white, 49 (47.1%) were Hispanic, and the majority were central NM residents. Although Hispanic and non-Hispanic white men were similar in age (mean: 40.8 and 46.2 years, respectively), Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women differed significantly by age (mean: 32.0 and 50.3 years, respectively; P <0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: The majority of MODs in New Mexico co-occurred with other substances. Deaths occurred primarily among non-Hispanic white middle-aged men in central NM. Because MOD demographic characteristics vary by age, ethnicity, and gender, methamphetamine addiction treatment and prevention efforts should target these specific subgroups.