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Abstract Background People who use drugs (PWUD) in rural communities increasingly use stimulants, such as methamphetamine and cocaine, with opioids. We examined differences in hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing and treatment history among rural PWUD with opioids, stimulants, and other substance use combinations. Methods PWUD were enrolled from ten rural U.S. communities from 2018 to 2020. Participants self-reporting a positive HCV result were asked about their HCV treatment history and drug use history. Drug use was categorized as opioids alone, stimulants alone, both, or other drug(s) within the past 30 days. Prevalence ratios (PR) were yielded using adjusted multivariable log-binomial regression with generalized linear mixed models. Results Of the 2,705 PWUD, most reported both opioid and stimulant use (74%); while stimulant-only (12%), opioid-only (11%), and other drug use (2%) were less common. Most (76%) reported receiving HCV testing. Compared to other drug use, those who reported opioid use alone had a lower prevalence of HCV testing (aPR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.63, 1.02). Among participants (n = 944) who self-reported an HCV diagnosis in their lifetime, 111 (12%) ever took anti-HCV medication; those who used both opioids and stimulants were less likely to have taken anti-HCV medication compared with other drug(s) (aPR = 0.41; 95% CI: 0.19, 0.91). Conclusions In this pre-COVID study of U.S. rural PWUD, those who reported opioid use alone had a lower prevalence of reported HCV testing. Those diagnosed with HCV and reported both opioid and stimulant use were less likely to report ever taking anti-HCV medication.

Abstract Background Over the past decade in the USA, increases in overdose rates of cocaine and psychostimulants with opioids were highest among Black, compared to White, populations. Whether fentanyl has contributed to the rise in cocaine and psychostimulant overdoses in Ohio is unknown. We sought to measure the impact of fentanyl on cocaine and psychostimulant overdose death rates by race in Ohio. Methods We conducted time series and spatiotemporal analyses using data from the Ohio Public Health Information Warehouse. Primary outcomes were state- and county-level overdose death rates from 2010 to 2020 for Black and White populations. Measures of interest were overdoses consisting of four drug involvement classes: (1) all cocaine overdoses, (2) cocaine overdoses not involving fentanyl, (3) all psychostimulant overdoses, and (4) psychostimulant overdoses not involving fentanyl. We fit a time series model of log standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) using a Bayesian generalized linear mixed model to estimate posterior median rate ratios (RR). We conducted a spatiotemporal analysis by modeling the SMR for each drug class at the county level to characterize county-level variation over time. Results In 2020, the greatest overdose rates involved cocaine among Black (24.8 deaths/100,000 people) and psychostimulants among White (10.1 deaths/100,000 people) populations. Annual mortality rate ratios were highest for psychostimulant-involved overdoses among Black (aRR = 1.71; 95% CI (1.43, 2.02)) and White (aRR = 1.60, 95% CI (1.39, 1.80)) populations. For cocaine not involving fentanyl, annual mortality rate ratios were similar among Black (aRR = 1.04; 95% CI (0.96,1.16)) and White (aRR = 1.02; 95% CI (0.87, 1.20)) populations. Within each drug category, change over time was similar for both racial groups. The spatial models highlighted county-level variation for all drug categories. Conclusions Without the involvement of fentanyl, cocaine overdoses remained constant while psychostimulant overdoses increased. Tailored harm reduction approaches, such as distribution of fentanyl test strips and the removal of punitive laws that influence decisions to contact emergency services, are the first steps to reduce cocaine overdose rates involving fentanyl among urban populations in Ohio. In parallel, harm reduction policies to address the increase in psychostimulant overdoses are warranted.

We examined a natural history of opioid overdose deaths from 1999-2021 in the United States to describe state-level spatio-temporal heterogeneity in the waves of the epidemic. We obtained overdose death counts by state from 1999-2021, categorized as involving prescription opioids, heroin, synthetic opioids, or unspecified drugs. We developed a Bayesian multivariate multiple change point model to flexibly estimate the timing and magnitude of state-specific changes in death rates involving each drug type. We found substantial variability around the timing and severity of each wave across states. The first wave of prescription-involved deaths started between 1999 and 2005, the second wave of heroin-involved deaths started between 2010 and 2014, and the third wave of synthetic opioid-involved deaths started between 2014 and 2021. The severity of the second and third waves was greater in states in the eastern half of the country. Our study highlights state-level variation in the timing and severity of the waves of the opioid epidemic by presenting a 23-year natural history of opioid overdose mortality in the United States. While reinforcing the general notion of three waves, we find that states did not uniformly experience the impacts of each wave.