Opioid Overdose in Ohio: Comprehensive Analysis of Associated Socioeconomic Factors

Objective Our study focused on identifying socioeconomic factors associated with death by opioid overdose in Ohio communities at the census tract level. Materials and Methods A large-scale vital statistic dataset from Ohio Department of Health (ODH) and U.S. Census datasets were used to obtain opioid-related death rate and socioeconomic characteristics for all census tracts in Ohio. Regression analysis was performed to identify the relationships between socioeconomic factors of census tracts and the opioid-related death rate for both urban and rural tracts. Results In Ohio from 2010-2016, whites, males, and people aged 25-44 had the highest opioid-related death rates. At the census tract level, higher death rates were associated with certain socioeconomic characteristics (e.g. percentage of the census tract population living in urban areas, percentage divorced/separated, percentage of vacant housing units). Predominately rural areas had a different population composition than urban areas, and death rates in rural areas exhibited fewer associations with socioeconomic characteristics. Discussion Predictive models of opioid-related death rates based on census tract-level characteristics held for urban areas more than rural ones, reflecting the recently observed rural-to-urban geographic shift in opioid-related deaths. Future research is needed to examine the geographic distribution of opioid abuse throughout Ohio and in other states. Conclusion Regression analysis identified associations between population characteristics and opioid-related death rates of Ohio census tracts. These analyses can help government officials and law official workers prevent, predict and combat opioid abuse at the community level. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and publication of this article. ### Author Declarations All relevant ethical guidelines have been followed and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. Not Applicable Any clinical trials involved have been registered with an ICMJE-approved registry such as ClinicalTrials.gov and the trial ID is included in the manuscript. Not Applicable I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant Equator, ICMJE or other checklist(s) as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes Data were acquired from publicly available records from the 2010 U.S. Census and the American Community Survey (2010-2016). Limited-access mortality data were obtained from the Ohio Department of Health via a DUA. Access and use of the data was approved by the ODH IRB.