Rutgers receives $2.9 million federal grant to study drug overdose risks among young adults
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (Middlesex County) — Rutgers Health researchers have received a $2.9 million federal grant to conduct a five-year study examining drug overdose trends, risk factors and treatment outcomes among adolescents and young adults.
The study, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, will use 10 years of national Medicaid data to examine fatal and nonfatal drug overdoses among individuals ages 12 to 29.
Researchers hope to better understand what happens to young patients after they survive an overdose, including whether they receive mental health or addiction treatment and how that care affects their risk of experiencing another overdose.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdose deaths have risen sharply over the past decade. While many people survive an overdose, researchers said limited information is available about the care patients receive after being discharged from the hospital.
“Experiencing one nonfatal overdose increases your chances of having another overdose that could potentially be fatal,” said Hillary Samples, a core member of the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science at Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research. “Life-threatening drug overdoses often mean patients need mental health or addiction treatment, yet we don’t always know if patients are connected with those vital services or what types of follow up care they receive.”
Samples, the study’s lead principal investigator, will work alongside fellow principal investigator Greta Bushnell, also of the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science, to analyze Medicaid records involving adolescents and young adults who have experienced drug overdoses since 2016.
The research will examine the types of drugs involved in overdoses, whether incidents were classified as intentional self-poisoning, what treatments patients received afterward and whether those treatments reduced the likelihood of repeat overdoses or death.
Researchers said behavioral health treatment can play an important role in preventing future overdoses and deaths related to drug poisoning, suicide and other causes among adolescents and young adults.
Using a decade of Medicaid data, researchers will also examine how overdose risks have changed alongside the evolving drug supply, including the rise of fentanyl and other emerging drugs.
The study will explore differences in overdose risks across developmental stages, from early and late adolescence through emerging and young adulthood. Medicaid, the largest source of health insurance coverage for young people in the United States, will provide researchers with a broad population to examine patterns in overdose incidents and subsequent treatment.
Researchers said the findings could help identify opportunities for health care providers to intervene following a nonfatal overdose, particularly during the transition from hospital care to community-based treatment.
“The goal of this research is to inform strategies used by clinicians that will improve post-overdose interventions and prevent future overdoses and deaths in this vulnerable population,” said Samples, an assistant professor at Rutgers School of Public Health.
The five-year project is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health and will focus on identifying treatment approaches that may reduce repeat overdoses and overdose-related deaths among adolescents and young adults.
