Opioid control policies linked to drop in domestic violence

A brand new research led by the College of South Florida reveals opioid management insurance policies could provide broader public well being advantages, together with lowering situations of home violence. As policymakers proceed to grapple with the opioid epidemic, this research highlights the ability of analysis to tell efficient public coverage.

The analysis performed by USF doctoral pupil Minglu Solar and Andrei Barbos, affiliate professor of economics, underscores how opioid abuse could cause a strong ripple impact throughout society.

Printed in Well being Economics, the research analyzes the affect on the prevalence of home violence in Obligatory Entry Prescription Drug Monitoring Packages. These opioid management applications require well being care suppliers to seek the advice of a centralized database earlier than prescribing opioids, serving to stop sufferers from acquiring a number of prescriptions from a number of docs. Within the early 2010s, states started passing legal guidelines that mandated the usage of these databases after the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention and different companies mentioned they have been a key device to fight misuse of opioids.

The staggered rollout of those applications throughout the nation provided a novel alternative to investigate their results over time and throughout completely different areas, which allowed us to isolate the consequences of those opioid management applications on the prevalence of home violence from different elements, akin to financial cycles, concurrent coverage adjustments or broader crime traits.”

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

With information from the Nationwide Incident-Based mostly Reporting System, they compiled stories 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.

Solar and Barbos discovered that these opioid management applications not solely curb misuse however contributed to a ten% discount within the prevalence of easy assaults, which account for almost 75% of home violence incidents within the information. Easy assaults are typically outlined as an try and trigger bodily hurt to a different individual that doesn’t contain a weapon or lead to severe damage.

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

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