{"title":"Higher Rates Of Homelessness Are Associated With Increases In Mortality From Accidental Drug And Alcohol Poisonings.","authors":"W David Bradford, Felipe Lozano-Rojas","doi":"10.1377/hlthaff.2023.00951","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Alcohol and drug overdoses have multiple complex causes. In this article we contribute to the literature that links homelessness, the most extreme form of housing disruption, to accidental SUD-related poisonings. Using plausibly exogenous variation from a state's landlord-tenant policies that influence evictions, we estimated the causal impact of homelessness on SUD-related mortality. We found large effects of homelessness on SUD-related poisonings (for example, a 10 percent increase in homelessness led to a 3.2 percent increase in opioid poisonings in metropolitan areas). Our findings indicate that reducing local homelessness rates from the seventy-fifth to the fiftieth percentile levels could have saved more than 1,900 lives from opioid overdoses across all metropolitan localities in the final year of our study data. We conclude that strengthening the social safety net in terms of housing security could help curb the ongoing SUD-related poisoning epidemic in the US.</p>","PeriodicalId":50411,"journal":{"name":"Health Affairs","volume":"43 2","pages":"242-249"},"PeriodicalIF":8.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Health Affairs","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2023.00951","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Alcohol and drug overdoses have multiple complex causes. In this article we contribute to the literature that links homelessness, the most extreme form of housing disruption, to accidental SUD-related poisonings. Using plausibly exogenous variation from a state's landlord-tenant policies that influence evictions, we estimated the causal impact of homelessness on SUD-related mortality. We found large effects of homelessness on SUD-related poisonings (for example, a 10 percent increase in homelessness led to a 3.2 percent increase in opioid poisonings in metropolitan areas). Our findings indicate that reducing local homelessness rates from the seventy-fifth to the fiftieth percentile levels could have saved more than 1,900 lives from opioid overdoses across all metropolitan localities in the final year of our study data. We conclude that strengthening the social safety net in terms of housing security could help curb the ongoing SUD-related poisoning epidemic in the US.
期刊介绍:
Health Affairs is a prestigious journal that aims to thoroughly examine significant health policy matters both domestically and globally. Our publication is committed to addressing issues that are relevant to both the private and public sectors. We are enthusiastic about inviting private and public decision-makers to contribute their innovative ideas in a publishable format. Health Affairs seeks to incorporate various perspectives from industry, labor, government, and academia, ensuring that our readers benefit from the diverse viewpoints within the healthcare field.