141st APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

280472
Prescription drug abuse: Developing evidence-based state level interventions


Tuesday, November 5, 2013 : 12:50 p.m. - 1:10 p.m.

Signe Shackelford, MPH, Center for Mississippi Health Policy, Jackson, MS
     
     
Introduction: Prescription drug abuse and overdose has been identified by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as a major growing health problem. Data collection for mortality can be inconsistent because of differences in medical examiner or coroner classification of cause of death. The small number of deaths per year at a state level can also limit verification of trends. Further, data being collected by the state prescription monitoring program is not being analyzed for trends in drug use, abuse, and diversion.The coordination of data collection at the state level will help inform evidence-based policies.

Methods: In 2011, 232 Mississippians died of unintentional drug overdose (ICD-10 x40-44). Data from these 232 decedents were compared with prescription monitoring program data to identify patterns of prescription use in the two years prior to death.

Results/Discussion: Limitations in the current software have blocked mechanized analysis of the data. As a result, the project currently serves as an example of "lessons learned" in data analysis with multiple stakeholders. Some analysis was still performed. Using the vital statistics data, variations were identified. The rate of mortality due to unintentional poisoning by drug overdose was nearly three times higher in Public Health Region IX as in the rest of the state over 2007-2011. These variations are almost certainly attributable to the racial distribution of the decedents, with 90 percent categorized as white. Needs for the software program were identified, and the prescription monitoring program is incorporating changes into a new software system to be implemented in 2013.

Learning Areas:

Ethics, professional and legal requirements
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related public policy
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Discuss prescription drug monitoring program (PMP) in Mississippi, with historical and national context. Describe current project to coordinate between the PMP and the Mississippi State Department of Health's Office of Vital Records (MSDH) to compare 2011 unintentional poisoning deaths with two years of prescription drug history. 3) Evaluate "lessons learned" in the PMP data match project.

Keyword(s): Prescription Drug Use Patterns, Data/Surveillance

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am an MPH and have been coordinating the project between the Mississippi State Department of Health and the Prescription Monitoring Program to match data and analyze findings.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4183.0: Dynamics of Prescription Drug Abuse, Identifying Vulnerable Populations