New study: Women hit hard by opioid addiction

A new federal study documents the toll the misuse of opioid medications is taking on Americans.

Opioids are commonly prescribed to manage pain following surgery, injury or illness. If not used with great care, they can become addictive, with some patients turning to heroin and other illegal or unregulated drugs when prescriptions run out.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality examined national and state rates of hospital and emergency room visits related to opioid prescription medications or heroin between 2004 and 2015.  The numbers show the opioid crisis affects Americans of all types and ages.

Nationally, the highest rates of opioid-related inpatient hospital stays were among patients in two age groups: 25 to 44 and 45 to 64.

The data also pointed out differences between states. For example:

• The West Coast – California, Oregon and Washington – saw the highest rates of opioid-related hospitalizations among patients age 65 and older.
• Women have been hit hardest, with the rate of hospitalizations rising 75 percent over the decade.
• One state, Massachusetts, consistently ranked as having the highest rates of opioid-related inpatient stays across all patient gender and age groups. Connecticut, Maryland and Washington ranked among the states with the highest rates in all but one gender or age group.

Read the full report to see how your state compares with others. Has your family been affected by the opioid crisis? What should be done about it? Who should lead the charge? Share your story with Voices for Affordable Health.