Drug Overdose/Opioid Mortality Definitions

This Web Query contains mortality data for Drug Overdoses generally, and Opioid subsets specifically.

The Categories are as follows (per NCHS specifications):

• A) DRUG OVERDOSES (Caused by acute poisoning only. Excludes alcohol)
  Deaths with any of the following ICD-10 codes as underlying cause of death: X40-44, X60-64, X85, Y10-14.
  May involve any over-the-counter, prescription, or illicit drugs.
  


• B) ALL OPIOIDS SUBSET
  Of Drug Overdoses listed in A above, any of the following ICD-10 codes as any other listed cause of death: T40.0, T40.1, T40.2, T40.3, T40.4, T40.6.
  Involves both prescription opioid pain relievers (e.g., hydrocodone, oxycodone, and morphine), opioids used to treat addiction (e.g., methadone), as well as heroin, opium, and synthetic opioids (e.g., tramadol and fentanyl that may be prescription or illicitly-manufactured).


• C) Of Drug Overdoses involving any Opioid (Item B above):
  (Note: The following categories are not mutually exclusive. Also, poly-substance abuse deaths may be included in multiple categories.)
  • c.1) Drug overdose death involving natural, semi-synthetic, synthetic opioids
    Any of the following ICD-10 codes as any other listed cause of death: T40.2, T40.3, T40.4.
    Involves both prescription opioid pain relievers (e.g., hydrocodone, oxycodone, and morphine), opioids used to treat addiction (e.g., methadone), as well as synthetic opioids (e.g., tramadol and fentanyl that may be prescription or illicitly-manufactured).
  • c.2) Drug overdose death involving synthetic opioids other than methadone
    The following ICD-10 code as any other listed cause of death: T40.4.
    Involves synthetic opioids other than methadone (e.g., tramadol and fentanyl that may be prescription or illicitly-manufactured).
  • c.3) Drug overdose death involving heroin
    The following ICD-10 code as any other listed cause of death: T40.1.
    
  • c.4) Drug overdose death involving methadone
    The following ICD-10 code as any other listed cause of death: T40.3.
    

ICD10 Code Descriptions: X40-X44 (accidental poisonings by drugs), X60-X64 (intentional self-poisoning by drugs), X85 (assault by drug poisoning), Y10-Y14 (drug poisoning of undetermined intent), T40.0 (opium), T40.1 (heroin), T40.2 (natural and semisynthetic opioids), T40.3 (methadone), T40.4 (synthetic opioids, other than methadone), T40.6 (other and unspecified narcotics).

Age-Adjusted Rates

A weighted average of the age-specific rates, where the weights are the proportions of persons in the corresponding age groups of a standard population. The calculation of an Age-Adjusted Rate uses the year 2000 U.S. standard million. Benefit: Controls for differences in age structure so that observed differences in rates across areas such as counties are not due solely to differences in the proportion of people in different age groups in different areas. Rates are per 100,000 population.

Cause of Death

Reported causes of death are based on the underlying cause of death. The underlying cause of death is defined by the World Health Organization as the disease or injury that initiated the sequence of events leading directly to death or as the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury.

Death Rate

Formula = [Number of Deaths / Population] * 100,000.

Education

The last grade of formal education completed at the time of death. Please note that sometimes the individual levels will not equal the total. This is due to records with Unknown Education Level.

Ethnicity

Hispanic or Latino includes persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, (ICD-10)

An alphanumeric coding scheme that replaces ICD-9, and used for mortality data since 1999. ICD-10 codes were developed by the World Health Organization Collaborating Centres for Classification of Diseases.

Lifestages

An age year grouping methodology based upon predictable mortality. Georgia uses the following Lifestages: <1 Infancy, 1-4 Early Childhood, 5-12 Later Childhood, 13-19 Adolescence, 20-29 Early Adulthood, 30-44 Young Adulthood, 45-59 Middle Adulthood, 60-74 Late Adulthood, and 75+ Older Adulthood. The highest value for age is 120 years.

Non-Rural

Any county with 50,000 or more total population according to the United States decennial census of 2010 or any future such census (GA Code § 31-6-2 and 31-7-94.1).

Percent of Deaths by Cause

The percent of deaths from a selected cause in the geography chosen of all deaths in the geography chosen.
Formula = [Number of cause-specific deaths in a county or district / Number of deaths in a county or district] * 100

Race

Per the Federal Office of Management and Budget, Directive 15 (1997),

• White is a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East or North Africa;
• Black or African-American is a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa;
• Asian is a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand and Vietnam;
• American Indian/Alaska Native is a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment;
• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander is a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands;
• Multiracial is a person declaring 2 or more of these races.

Rural

Any county having a population of less than 50,000 according to the United States decennial census of 2010 or any future such census (GA Code § 31-6-2 and 31-7-94.1).

Socioeconomic (SES) Vulnerability

Socioeconomic (SES) Vulnerability refers to the socioeconomic status domain/subset of the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) 2020. Socioeconomic vulnerability ranks census tracts within Georgia on 5 factors: below 150% poverty, unemployed, housing cost burden, no high school diploma, and no health insurance. Percentile ranking values range from 0 to 1, with higher values indicating greater vulnerability/lower socioeconomic status. Quintiles of the percentile rankings were used to create class breaks (Very Low, Low, Average, High and Very High SES Vulnerability). Keep in mind that “Very Low” SES Vulnerability equates to a High SES status. For more information see https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/index.html. For data dictionary click here.

V1.9 (1/8/2024)