The economic burden of opioid use disorder and fatal opioid overdose in the United States, 2017

• Published in: Drug and alcohol dependence Vol. 218; p. 108350
• Main Authors: Florence, Curtis, Luo, Feijun, Rice, Ketra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier B.V 01.01.2021; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Analgesics, Opioid - poisoning; Clinical research; Cost of Illness; Costs; Crime; Criminal justice; Criminal Law; Decision makers; Delivery of Health Care; Drug abuse; Drug addiction; Drug overdose; Drug Overdose - economics; Drug Overdose - epidemiology; Economics; Federal agencies; Health care; Humans; Impact analysis; Judicial system; Morbidity; Narcotics; Opiate Overdose - economics; Opiate Overdose - epidemiology; Opioid; Opioid Epidemic; Opioid-Related Disorders - economics; Opioid-Related Disorders - epidemiology; Opioids; Overdose; Overdoses; Polls & surveys; Prevalence; Productivity; Public health; Public policy; Quality of Life; Substance use disorder; United States - epidemiology; Use disorder; Vital statistics; United States; United States > US; Opioid; Costs; Overdose; Use disorder
• ISSN: 0376-8716; 1879-0046; 1879-0046
• DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108350

•Opioid use disorder and fatal overdose have a substantial economic burden in the U.S.•Most of the economic burden is due to loss of life and reduced quality of life.•There are also high costs associated with health care, criminal justice and lost productivity. The United States (U.S.) is experiencing an ongoing opioid crisis. Economic burden estimates that describe the impact of the crisis are needed when considering federal and state resources devoted to addressing overdoses. In this study, we estimate the societal costs for opioid use disorder and fatal overdose from all opioids in 2017. We estimated costs of fatal overdose from all opioids and opioid use disorder based on the incidence of overdose deaths and the prevalence of past-year opioid use disorder for 2017. Incidence of fatal opioid overdose was obtained from the National Vital Statistics System; prevalence of past-year opioid use disorder was estimated from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health. Costs were estimated for health care, criminal justice and lost productivity. Costs for the reduced quality of life for opioid use disorder and life lost due to fatal opioid overdose were valued using U.S. Department of Health and Human Services guidelines for valuing reductions in morbidity and mortality. Costs for opioid use disorder and fatal opioid overdose in 2017 were estimated to be $1.02 trillion. The majority of the economic burden is due to reduced quality of life from opioid use disorder and the value of life lost due to fatal opioid overdose. These estimates can assist decision makers in understanding the magnitude of opioid use disorder and fatal overdose. Knowing the magnitude and distribution of the economic burden can inform public policy, clinical practice, research, and prevention and response activities.