Tracking Drug Overdose Trends in Ohio using ED Chief Complaints

Authors

  • Alise L. Brown Ohio Department of Health, Columbus, OH
  • William E. Storm Ohio Department of Health, Columbus, OH
  • Brian E. Fowler Ohio Department of Health, Columbus, OH

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5210/ojphi.v5i1.4432

Abstract

Preliminary analysis was completed to define, identify, and track the trends of drug overdoses (OD), both intentional and unintentional, from emergency department (ED) and urgent care (UC) chief complaint data. Using Chief complaint data to quickly track changes in the geographical distribution, demographics, and volume of ODs may aid public health efforts to decrease the number of associated deaths. A specific classifier was created to define all potential ED visits related to drug ODs. Further study of post-diagnostic ED/UC data to confirm preliminary trends is warranted.

Author Biography

Alise L. Brown, Ohio Department of Health, Columbus, OH

Alise L. Brown is the Syndromic Surveillance Infection Control Consultant at the Ohio Department of Health, since 2010. Prior to working for the Buerau for Infectious diseases at ODH, she worked as a registered nurse in a variety of clinical specialties for 13 years. As the infection control consultant Alise works with infection preventionists, Ohio Poison Control centers and other clinical professionals, and monitoring over the counter medication sales and emergency department data. Alise previously presented a poster at the 2011 ISDS conference.

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Published

2013-03-23

How to Cite

Brown, A. L., Storm, W. E., & Fowler, B. E. (2013). Tracking Drug Overdose Trends in Ohio using ED Chief Complaints. Online Journal of Public Health Informatics, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.5210/ojphi.v5i1.4432

Issue

Section

Poster Presentations