Keywords

Overdose trends; Fentanyl; Polysubstance use; Orange County; Public health policy

Abstract

This study sought to investigate fatal overdoses in Orange County, Florida during the years of 2019, 2020, and 2021. Data for this project was provided by the Orange County Medical Examiner's office. Each overdose death was coded for age, sex, race, and cause of death. The purpose of the study is to identify trends to inform policy reform. The results reveal that fentanyl overdose deaths are continuing to rise as heroin overdose deaths decrease. Additionally, there is greater upward trends in polysubstance opioid overdose deaths as compared to non-opioid polysubstance overdose deaths. Ultimately, a specific type of overdose death cannot be predicted by race or sex. The implications of this study are that awareness campaigns and treatment opportunities should highlight that an overdose death can happen to anyone.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2022

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Donley, Amy

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Sociology

Degree Program

Applied Sociology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0009353; DP0027076

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0027076

Language

English

Release Date

December 2022

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Subjects

Drug abuse--Mortality; Drug addiction--Mortality; Narcotic addicts--Mortality; Drug abuse--Epidemiology--Methodology; Drug abuse--Government policy--Evaluation

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