The overdose epidemic remains largely driven by opioids, but the county-level prevalence of opioid misuse is unknown. Without this information, public health and policy responses are limited by a lack of knowledge on the scope of the problem.
In a recent study, William Miller, MD, PhD, estimated the Prevalence of opioid misuse in North Carolina. In general, the estimated prevalence of misuse was decreasing over the study period. The estimated prevalence was above average in the western and southeastern parts of the state. He also estimated that the proportion of people who misuse opioids who fatally overdosed increased sharply over the study period, as the median estimated proportion in 2021 was more than 8 times greater than in 2016.