Access to Mental Healthcare Providers as an Indicator for Fatal Drug Overdoses in Rural Tennessee, 2019 –2021

AbstractMental health conditions are common comorbidities seen in drug overdoses. Evidence has shown substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health conditions often share an origin cause and more successful treatment when addressed together, simultaneously (Buckley,Journal of Clinical Psychiatry,67, 5,2006). With fatal overdoses increasing annually and the large prevalence of mental health conditions in Tennessee (TN), our aim was to determine if lack of access to mental healthcare providers was associated with higher fatal overdoses with mental health comorbidities, particularly in rural TN. For our analyses, fatal drug overdoses in all of TN were captured by the State Unintentional Drug Overdose Surveillance System (SUDORS). Hospital Discharge Data System data was then linked to SUDORS cases for deaths among TN residents who had an autopsy between 2019 and 2021. Analysis was limited to decedents with a mental health condition determined through ICD-10 codes and autopsy reports. Descriptive statistics were calculated stratified by rural or urban and geographic mental health professional shortage area (MHPSA) or non-MHPSA based on county of residence. Chi-square tests were conducted to determine differences. Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression were conducted to determine the relationship between living in a MHPSA and living in a rural county among drug overdose decedents with mental health conditions. We identified 2639 (48.4%) decedents with a mental health condition...
Source: International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction - Category: Addiction Source Type: research