Ohioans More Likely To Visit ER Due To Opioids: Report

CLEVELAND, OH — Ohio women are spending more time as inpatients being treated for opioid addiction than women in almost any other state, according to a new report from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Ohio men are more likely to visit the emergency room in opioid-related incidents.

Ohio is not alone in seeing massive upticks in visits to both the ER and the hospital because of opioids. The trend is sweeping across the nation, with nearly every state seeing drastic increases in the number of opioid-related health incidents. (To stay up to date on local stories, subscribe to the Patch Cleveland newsletter. As news breaks and the story develops, you will be the first to receive updates from Patch.)

Ohio women have one of the highest rates of inpatient visits due to opioids. Women ages 1-44 make up the majority of the state's inpatient opioid cases. Ohio women are also very likely to visit the ER with opioid ailments, landing in the top 25 percent nationally for most visits to the ER by women.

Ohio men are at about the national average in terms of inpatient visits, but are far more likely to visit the ER with opioid-related health effects. Men ages 1-44 are in the top 25 percent nationally for most visits to the ER due to opioids.

Opioid-related stays and emergency department visits are identified as all-listed diagnoses and included events associated with prescription opioids or illicit opioids like heroin. The data presents information for the patient, sex and age groups with the highest opioid-related inpatient stay rates for 44 states and the District of Columbia for 2014. Patient sex and age groups with the highest opioid-related emergency department and visit rates are presented for 30 states that provided data in 2014.

In all states in 2014, patients aged 25-44 had the highest opioid-related emergency department visits. Findings from the data show that between 2005 and 2014, opioid-related inpatient stays increased faster for females than males, but by 2014, the rate was virtually the same for both. In terms of emergency department visits, the increase in opioid-related visits was similar for males and females, and males consistently had a higher visit rate than females. For both sexes, the opioid-related emergency department visit rate increased faster than the inpatient stay rate.

Read More On Ohio's Opioid Crisis

• Deadly Overdose Spike Since Memorial Day In Northeast Ohio
• Ohio Sues 5 Opioid Drug Producers
• Recovering Addict Reforms Police Approach To Opiates
• Curbing Opiates: Doctors Addicted To Overprescribing

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images

Feroze Dhanoa, Patch, contributed to this report