In 1999, 4,314 American women aged 30 to 64 died of a drug overdose — 6.7 per 100,000. In 2017 the number was 18,110, a rate of 24.3 per 100,000: an increase of 260 percent. Much attention has gone to women of childbearing age; this CDC analysis shows that middle-aged women, too, remain very vulnerable.
CDC's summary graphic on opioid overdose deaths among U.S. women aged 30–64. Credit: CDC, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Every drug category rose
Using death certificates for all U.S. residents, the analysis tracked overdoses involving six kinds of drugs (one death can involve several). From 1999 to 2017, rates rose for all of them, most steeply for:
| Drug involved | Increase in death rate, 1999–2017 |
|---|---|
| Synthetic opioids other than methadone | 1,643% |
| Heroin | 915% |
| Benzodiazepines | 830% |
Overdose death rates among women aged 30–64 by drug, 1999–2017. Credit: CDC, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
By age
Overall overdose death rates rose about 200 percent among women aged 35–39 and 45–49, 350 percent among those 30–34 and 50–54, and nearly 500 percent among those 55–64.
- Prescription opioids: rates rose in every age group, most of all — more than 1,000 percent — among women 55 to 64.
- Synthetic opioids: rates rose in every age group, most among women 30 to 34 (3,500 percent).
- Heroin: from 0.4–0.6 per 100,000 among women 30–49 in 1999 to between 1.3 (ages 60–64) and 5.6 (ages 30–34) in 2017.
- Benzodiazepines: up in every age group — 1,225 percent among women 30–34, 534 percent among those 40–44.
- Antidepressants: doubled among women 30–34 and 40–49, and rose about 300 percent at 55–59 and nearly 400 percent at 60–64; in 2017 the rate ranged from 2.0 (ages 30–34) to 4.6 (ages 50–54).
- Cocaine: in 2017, similar across ages 30–54 (4.5–5.0 per 100,000).
Overdose death rates by age group and drug, 1999 and 2017. Credit: CDC, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The average age of women who died rose by 2.8 years, from 43.5 in 1999 to 46.3 in 2017, and it rose for every drug class except synthetic opioids. As women age, the substances they use or misuse can change, and so can the pain that might lead to an opioid prescription — so prevention may need to shift as the epidemic's demographics shift.
What can help
- Health care providers who treat women for pain, depression or anxiety can discuss treatments that consider women's particular biological, psychological and social needs, and can follow CDC's Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain.
- Prescription drug monitoring programs, insurers and Medicaid can review whether controlled substances are being prescribed within guidelines.
- Gender-responsive treatment for substance use disorders, especially for pregnant women and women with drug use disorders, can reduce harm, along with more treatment capacity and linkage to care.
Limits
Which drugs are recorded depends on how deaths are investigated and what is tested for — toxicology cannot tell pharmaceutical from illicit fentanyl, for example. Deaths involving several drugs are counted in each category, and the share of death certificates naming specific drugs has changed over time.
Sources
Based on "Drug Overdose Deaths Among Women Aged 30–64 Years — United States, 1999–2017," by Jacob P. VanHouten, Rose A. Rudd, Michael F. Ballesteros and Karin A. Mack, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.cdc.gov
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