Opioid-Related Hospital Stays Among Women in the United States

The opioid epidemic is a national crisis, but research suggests that some subgroups of the population, such as women, may be more affected than other groups. Substantial differences in opioid use exist based on women's characteristics such as age, race/ethnicity, income, payer, and geography.

Opioid-Related Hospital Stays Among Women in the United States, a statistical brief from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, presents statistics on opioid-related hospitalizations among women aged 15 years and older using the 2016 National Inpatient Sample.

Highlights

• The rate of opioid-related stays among women in 2016 was 374.8 per 100,000 population. The rate increased with women's age, decreased with community-level income, and was highest for white women, followed by black women.
• Most opioid-related stays among women aged 15-44 years involved abuse/dependence (86 percent). Nearly half of opioid stays among women aged 65 years and older were due to adverse events. Nearly 1 in 10 opioid stays among women aged 45-64 years involved self-harm (more than other age groups).
• Regardless of income level, white women had the highest rate of opioid-related stays, followed by black women, but the difference between white and black women decreased from 34 percent higher for white women in the lowest income quartile to 17 percent higher in the highest income quartile.
• In large metropolitan areas, white and black women had a similar rate of opioid-related stays. However, in rural areas, black women had a lower rate of opioid stays compared with white women.
• Regardless of age group, the rate of opioid-related stays was lowest among women who resided in the west south central division.
• The rate of opioid-related stays was higher among older women in the western and north central United States but higher among younger women in the northeastern United States.

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