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Table 1 Characteristics and forensic information for the study population, by data collection period. Numbers (%)

From: Changes in opioid-related deaths following increased access to opioid substitution treatment

 

Period 1 (n=88)

Period 2 (n=105)

Total (n=193)

Age at death, median (Q1;Q3)

33.0 (27.25; 42.75)

35.0 (25.0; 43.0)

34.0 (26.5;43.0)

Male gender

73 (83.0%)

84 (80.0%)

157 (81.3%)

Resident in city with increased access to OSTa

62 (70.5%)

57 (54.3%)

119 (61.7%)

Stable housing

57 (64.8%)

79 (75.2%)

136 (70.5%)

Opioid substitution treatment, ongoing at time of death or discharged in last year of life

15 (17.0%)

28 (27.2%)

43 (22.5%)

Opioid substitution at time of death

7 (8.0%)

23 (22.3%)

30 (15.7%)

Methadone substitution treatment at time of death

7 (8.0%)

20 (19.0%)

27 (14.0%)

Buprenorphine substitution treatment at time of death

8 (9.1%)

8 (7.6%)

16 (8.3%)

Sedatives (Benzodiazepines, Z-drugs or pregabalin)

79 (89.8%)

83 (79.0%)

162 (83.9%)

Benzodiazepines

67 (76.1%)

73 (69.5%)

140 (72.5%)

CNS stimulants

20 (22.7%)

24 (22.9%)

44 (22.8%)

THC

18 (20.5%)

20 (19.0%)

38 (19.7%)

Alcohol (≥ 0.5‰)b

17 (19.3%)

16 (15.2%)

33 (17.1%)

Heroin intoxication c

19 (21.6%)

21 (20.0%)

40 (20.7%)

Methadone intoxication c,d

41 (46.6%)

43 (41.0%)

84 (43.5%)

Buprenorphine intoxication c

12 (13.6%)

18 (17.1%)

30 (15.5%)

Fentanyl intoxication c,e,f

11 (12.5%)

17 (16.2%)

28 (14.5%)

Oxycodone/morphine intoxication c,g

5 (5.7%)

6 (5.7%)

11 (5.7%)

  1. Period 1: 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2013; Period 2: 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2016
  2. aMalmö, Helsingborg, Lund, Landskrona and Ystad
  3. bTwo cases were removed since the analyses were not carried out on femoral blood
  4. cIn most deaths, the intoxication included more than one substance (often opioids and benzodiazepines). The table shows the number of cases in which specific opioids had caused or essentially contributed to the death
  5. dIncluding two cases in which the fatal intoxication was caused by the ingestion of both methadone and buprenorphine
  6. eIncluding seven cases in which fentanyl findings involved acrylfentanyl, acetylfentanyl or furanylfentanyl (all in data collection period 2)
  7. fFentanyl is in Sweden prescribed in the form of patches, tablets or nasal spray
  8. gOf these, eight were oxycodone-related and three were morphine-related (all morphine cases were in data collection period 1)