THURSDAY, Jan. 11, 2024 (HealthDay News) — From 1999 to 2019, there was an increase in mortality related to substance use (SU) plus cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to a study published online Jan. 10 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Abdul Mannan Khan Minhas, M.D., from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, and colleagues identified SU+CVD-related deaths using Multiple Cause-of-Death Public Use record death certificates and examined trends in mortality.

There were 636,572 SU+CVD-related deaths between 1999 and 2019. The researchers found the age-adjusted mortality rates were pronounced in men, in American Indian or Alaska Native individuals, in nonmetropolitan/rural areas, and for alcohol-related deaths (22.5, 37.7, 15.2, and 9.09 per 100,000 population, respectively). From 1999 to 2019, there was an increase observed in overall SU+CVD-related age-adjusted mortality rates from 9.9 to 21.4, with an average annual percent change of 4.0. Across all subgroups, there were increases seen in SU+CVD-related average annual percent changes, which were pronounced among women (4.8 percent) and for American Indian or Alaska Native individuals, younger individuals, nonmetropolitan areas, and cannabis and psychostimulant users.

“We would like to see additional public health efforts to support comprehensive evaluation and management of substance use in the U.S. that includes clinician and patient education, as well as attention to socioeconomic factors that contribute to substance use,” senior author Dmitry Abramov, M.D., from the Loma Linda University Medical Center in California, said in a statement.

One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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