NCHStats

Drug overdose deaths are on the rise, and from 1999 to 2009 rural U.S. counties saw a larger jump in these drug-poisoning deaths than their urban counterparts. While the highest death rates were seen in central metropolitan areas during this period, the rate grew by 394% in rural counties compared to a 279% spike for large urban metro areas.

Throughout the United States, the drug-poisoning death rate increased 300% over the past three decades, and is now the leading cause of injury death in the United States. About 90% of poisoning deaths are attributed to illicit or legal drugs, and prescription drugs account for the majority of drug overdose deaths.

All of this and more is presented in a new study that takes a look at drug overdose deaths in the United States — county by county.

The study was undertaken and penned by three National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) researchers in Hyattsville, Maryland. You can find their work, “Trends and Geographic Patterns in Drug-Poisoning Death Rates in the U.S., 1999-2009,” in the December 2013 edition of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. At NCHS, we’ve produced a number of reports on this topic — “Drug Poisoning Deaths in the United States, 1980-2008,” and “Increase in Fatal Poisonings Involving Opioid Analgesics in the United States, 1999-2006,” — but these earlier reports focused on state death rates. The new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine is the first to examine drug poisoning mortality on the county level. It’s this type of county mapping that can enhance efforts to bring preventive programs to geographic areas that could benefit most.

Assisted living and similar residential care communities provide an alternative to nursing homes for individuals with dementia who can no longer live independently.

In 2010, about 42% of individuals living in residential care communities had Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia. Individuals with dementia can live in residential care communities that have dementia special care units, or in a more traditional setting where these residents are integrated with residents without dementia. Many states require residential care communities with dementia special care units to have certain physical features (e.g., locked door) and specially trained staff to care for residents with dementia.

NCHS has put out a new report that compares residential care communities with and without dementia special care units.

Key Findings from the Report:

• In 2010, 17% of residential care communities had dementia special care units.
• Beds in dementia special care units accounted for 13% of all residential care beds.
• Residential care communities with dementia special care units were more likely than those without to have more beds, be chain-affiliated, and be purposely built as a residential care community, and less likely to be certified or registered to participate in Medicaid.
• Residential care communities with dementia special care units were more likely than those without to be located in the Northeast and in a metropolitan statistical area, and less likely to be in the West.