The problem

Globally, people are dying from drug (including alcohol) poisoning, but it has not been clear whether there were differences between men and women in relation to trends and drugs involved in these deaths.

The project

HRB-led research analysed data from the National Drug-Related Deaths Index (NDRDI) and prescription data from the Primary Care Reimbursement Service for the years 2004 to 2017 in Ireland, taking sex into account.

The outcomes

We now know that –

  • The rate of drug poisoning deaths in Ireland has gone up from 6.86 per 100,000 in 2004 to 8.08 per 100,000 in 2017
  • More than half of all drug poisoning deaths involving alcohol featured multiple drugs
  • The proportion of women who died of drug poisoning deaths involving alcohol decreased, and there was no significant change among men
  • For men, drug poisoning deaths involving cocaine, benzodiazepines, antidepressants, and/or prescription opioids increased significantly between 2004 and 2017
  • For women, drug poisoning deaths involving antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and/or prescription opioids increased significantly between 2004 and 2017, with a significant increase involving cocaine between 2011 and 2017
  • There has been a significant increase in reports of two or more central nervous system (CNS) depressant drugs involved in drug poisoning deaths in men and women.

Ena Lynn, Research Officer at the HRB says:

“The increasing trend of two or more drugs that depress the central nervous system being involved in drug poisoning deaths is of concern, especially among women. This more nuanced data by sex highlights the need for an increased understanding among prescribers, and among people who use drugs and policymakers, of physiological differences between men and women and how this affects drug activity, especially for drugs that suppress the central nervous system. The evidence points to the need for harm reduction initiatives, along with treatment interventions, which include pharmaceutical combined with psychosocial assistance to focus on the full range of problematic drugs.”

The HRB has a policy of publishing the findings of its research in jourals that are free to access online. The research on drug poisoning deaths resulted in a paper in the Open Access journal BMJ Open: Trends in drug poisoning deaths by sex in Ireland: a repeated cross-sectional study from 2004 to 2017.

‘Drug poisoning deaths in Ireland – unmasking trends among women’ is part of a wider collection of success stories across four themes from this year’s annual Health Research in Action. Download the full publication.