Top 3 Major Trends in National Health Outcomes Measures

Drug deaths

Drug deaths can refer to unintentional deaths as well as suicides, homicides, or other deaths with drug-related causes. Drug deaths increased by 30 percent between 2019 and 2020. The number of deaths due to drug incidents per 100,000 US adults rose from 21.5 to 27.9 in that timeframe.

In previous years, the rate of drug deaths had been steadily increasing. The rate grew significantly between 2016 and 2017 but from 2016 through 2021 the rate mostly remained around 20 percent. That makes the 30 percent jump from 21.5 deaths per 100,000 individuals to 27.9 deaths even starker.

West Virginia—which is one of the states with the highest levels of healthcare spending—had the highest increase in the drug death rate—jumping 54 percent to equal 77.4 West Virginians out of 100,000. The state’s death rate was 7.9 times the rate of the state with the lowest drug-related death rate, South Dakota.

The Mountain State’s drug-related death rate was closely followed by South Carolina (53 percent increase) and Kentucky (51 percent increase).

Groups that saw the biggest increases in drug-related deaths included individuals between the ages of 15 and 24 (49 percent), multiracial individuals (45 percent), and males (32 percent).

During the pandemic, American Indian and Alaska Native communities had the highest drug death rate. Black and Asian populations also saw increased drug death rates of 11.1 more deaths per 100,000 people and 1.2 deaths per 100,000 people, respectively.

Non-medical drug use

Non-medical drug use grew 29 percent between 2021 and 2022. In 2021, 12.0 percent of all American adult deaths were attributable to non-medical drug use. The following year in 2022, 15.5 percent of all adult deaths were due to non-medical drug use.

West Virginia led the way again in this category. The state saw an 82 percent increase in non-medical drug use in 2022, with a quarter of the state’s population using non-medical drugs. In contrast, Vermont had the lowest non-medical drug use rate. A little less than 6 percent of Vermonters used non-medical drugs in 2022.

Individuals without a high school education, women, white adults, and those with incomes between $25,000 and $74,999 saw the biggest increases in non-medical drug use.

Although the condition affects an increasing number of individuals, substance abuse care coverage remains elusive for many Americans. In particular, adolescents with substance use disorders have difficulty accessing care through Medicaid.

Premature deaths

Premature deaths increased by 18 percent between 2019 and 2020. In 2019, there were almost 7,340 years of life lost before 75 years of age per 100,000 individuals. The following year, there were nearly 8,660 lives lost per 100,000 individuals under the age of 75. This is the steepest increase in the US premature death rate in over 30 years.

The eight most common causes of premature death were: cancer, coronavirus, diabetes, heart disease, homicide, liver disease, suicide, and unintentional injury.

However, clinical causes are not the sole explanation for the rising premature death rate. The report emphasized that social, behavioral, and environmental factors all contribute to premature deaths.

New York had the highest increase in premature deaths, rising 31 percent. Arizona and New Jersey followed with 26 percent and 24 percent increases, respectively. Mississippi had the highest overall premature death rate, which was more than twice as high as the state with the lowest premature death rate, Hawaii.

Among racial and ethnic groups, the Hispanic population saw the biggest increase in premature deaths between 2015 to 2017 and 2018 to 2020 with a 16 percent increase. Additionally, between those two timeframes, the gap between the group with the highest overall premature death rate, the American Indian and Alaska Native population, and non-Hispanic White individuals grew by 14 percent.

A separate study by UnitedHealth Group found that the premature death rate among seniors was higher for minority groups during the coronavirus pandemic. In particular, the Hispanic senior population experienced a 48 percent increase in early death, a stark contrast to the national 17 percent increase.

In addition to these major shifts, the incidence of frequent mental distress also increased by 11 percent. The share of individuals who had multiple chronic conditions rose five percent from 2020 to 2021. In 2020, 9.1 percent of US adults had multiple chronic conditions. In 2021, that share rose to 9.6 percent.

The only major health outcome that was positive was the decrease in the suicide rate, which dropped by three percent. However, all of the clinical care measures that the report tracked and some social and economic factors improved.