Emergency medical services (EMS) encounters for youth opioid overdoses were rising before the COVID-19 pandemic, increased during its onset, and then flattened out, but remained higher than prepandemic levels, a cross-sectional study of nationwide data showed.
Prepandemic EMS encounters with youths who overdosed on opioids significantly increased by 29.9 per month (95% CI 9.3-50.4), with 810 and 1,538 encounters in January 2018 and February 2020, respectively, reported in a research letter in JAMA.
Dr. Kao-Ping Chua speaks with MedPage Today about the importance of clinicians and educators sharing the risks of substance use with youth.