Drug overdose mortality is associated with employment status and occupation in the National Longitudinal Mortality Study
Jonathan Aram, Norman J. Johnson, Mei‐Ling Ting Lee, Natalie Slopen
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Since 1999, over 702,000 people in the US have died of a drug overdose, and the drug overdose death rate has increased from 6.2 to 21.8 per 100,000. Employment status and occupation may be important social determinants of overdose deaths. OBJECTIVES: Estimate the risk of drug overdose death by employment status and occupation, controlling for other social and demographic factors known to be associated with overdose deaths. METHODS: Proportional hazard models were used to study US adults in the National Longitudinal Mortality Study with baseline measurements taken in the early 2000s and up to 6 years of follow-up (n = 438,739, 53% female, 47% male). Comparisons were made between adults with different employment statuses (employed, unemployed, disabled, etc.) and occupations (sales, construction, service occupations, etc.). Models were adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, income and marital status. RESULTS: Adults who were disabled (hazard ratio (HR) = 6.96 (95% CI = 6.81-7.12)), unemployed (HR = 4.20, 95% CI = 4.09-4.32) and retired (HR = 2.94, 95% CI = 2.87-3.00) were at higher risk of overdose death relative to those who were employed. By occupation, those working in service (HR = 2.05, 95% CI = 1.97-2.13); construction and extraction (HR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.64-1.76); management, business and financial (HR = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.33-1.44); and installation, maintenance and repair (HR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.25-1.40) occupations displayed higher risk relative to professional occupations. CONCLUSIONS: In a large national cohort followed prospectively for up to 6 years, several employment statuses and occupations are associated with overdose deaths, independent of a range of other factors. Efforts to prevent overdose deaths may benefit from focusing on these high-risk groups.