Opioid control policies linked to drop in domestic violence

A brand new research led by the University of South Florida reveals opioid control policies could supply broader public well being advantages, together with lowering situations of domestic violence. As policymakers proceed to grapple with the opioid epidemic, this research highlights the ability of analysis to inform efficient public coverage.

The analysis performed by USF doctoral scholar Minglu Sun and Andrei Barbos, affiliate professor of economics, underscores how opioid abuse may cause a robust ripple impact throughout society.

Published in Health Economics, the research analyzes the impression on the prevalence of domestic violence in Mandatory Access Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs. These opioid control applications require well being care suppliers to seek the advice of a centralized database earlier than prescribing opioids, serving to forestall sufferers from acquiring a number of prescriptions from a number of docs. In the early 2010s, states started passing legal guidelines that mandated the usage of these databases after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and different companies mentioned they had been a key instrument to fight misuse of opioids.

The staggered rollout of those applications throughout the nation supplied a novel alternative to analyze their results over time and throughout totally different areas, which allowed us to isolate the consequences of those opioid control applications on the prevalence of domestic violence from different elements, akin to financial cycles, concurrent coverage adjustments or broader crime developments.”

Andrei Barbos, affiliate professor of economics, University of South Florida

With information from the National Incident-Based Reporting System, they compiled studies from 31 states between 2007 and 2019 to create managed fashions for dynamic variables together with demographics, revenue, unemployment, well being standing, insurance coverage protection and overlapping rules, akin to legalized marijuana.

Sun and Barbos discovered that these opioid control applications not solely curb misuse however contributed to a ten% discount in the prevalence of straightforward assaults, which account for practically 75% of domestic violence incidents in the info. Simple assaults are typically outlined as an try to trigger bodily hurt to one other individual that doesn’t contain a weapon or outcome in severe damage.

The impact was strongest in states with the best opioid prescription charges. According to the CDC, southern states persistently exhibit greater charges – reinforcing the connection between opioid entry and domestic violence.

“Earlier public well being literature documented a correlation between opioid consumption and domestic violence, however correlation doesn’t suggest a causal relationship,” Barbos mentioned. “This article establishes a causal relationship and offers coverage makers with proof of a further optimistic spillover of opioid control policies, which can even be related for the coverage design surrounding the present fentanyl disaster.”