The Changing Faces of Fentanyl Deaths
This chart compares the increase in synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths between children less than one up to 14, with the overall population of the United States. The y-axis represents the x-fold increase in deaths from 2015 to 2021.
Summary
Synthetic opioid (fentanyl) poisoning was still the leading cause of death among Americans 18 to 45 in 2021.
Synthetic opioid (fentanyl) fatalities among children are rising faster than any other age group.
In just two years, synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths among children ages 1 to 4 more than tripled, and increased four fold among infants less than one, and children ages 5 to 14.
Since 2015, deaths among infants increased nearly 10 fold; among children ages 1 to 14 deaths increased 15 fold: an increase of more than 1400%.
In 2000, over one in four synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths were attributed to suicide by the CDC; in 2021 less than one percent of all deaths were attributed to suicide.
Americans ages 35 to 44 are more likely to die from synthetic opioid (fentanyl) poisoning than any other ten-year age group.
Deaths among Americans 25 to 44 accounted for 53.2% of the total number of synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths in the United States in 2021.
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All of the findings of this report were taken directly from the CDC Wonder database in October or November of 2022. The data for calendar year 2021 was considered “provisional” at the time of analysis, but according to the CDC should align closely to the final reported numbers and therefore can be used for health statistical reporting. All of our underlying cause of death (UCD) and multiple cause of death (MCD) selections were based on CDC recommendations, and the data we present in our reports adheres to CDC standards.
Age Data
In order to ascertain the total number of fentanyl deaths for years 2015 through 2017 by ten year age groups, we used the “Multiple Cause of Death: 1999 to 2020” request form.
From there we filtered the results by “Ten Year Age Groups;” “Year;” “underlying cause of death (UCD): Drug/Alcohol Induced,” and “multiple cause of death (MCD) - ICD-10 113 Cause List”
Then we narrowed our search by age. To do so we selected “ten year age groups” under the demographic section of the form, being sure to highlight the “all ages” line in the list.
Then we selected our “time period of death” - which included the years: 2015; 2016; 2017.
Then we selected “Drug-induced causes” under the section entitled, “Select underlying cause of death.”
Finally, we selected code T40.4 (Other Synthetic Narcotics) under the section entitled, “multiple cause of death,” after clicking the MCD - ICD-10 Codes option.
In order to ascertain the total number of fentanyl deaths for years 2018 through 2021 by ten year age group, we used the “Provisional Mortality Statistics: 2018 through Last Month” request form. From there we replicated the search laid out above, but changed our “time period of death” to include the years: 2018; 2019; 2020; 2021 (provisional).
Intentionality Data
In order to separate synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths by underlying cause we replicated the aforementioned searches altering the “time period of death,” and “underlying cause of death” selections as needed.
For example, in order to ascertain the number of synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths attributed to suicide in 2021 by ten year age groups, we used the “Provisional Mortality Statistics: 2018 through Last Month” request form.
From there we filtered the results by “Ten Year Age groups,” “underlying cause of death (UCD): Drug/Alcohol Induced,” and “multiple cause of death (MCD) - ICD-10 113 Cause List.”
Then we narrowed our search by age. To do so we selected “ten year age groups” under the demographic section of the form, being sure to highlight the “all ages” line in the list.
Then we selected our “time period of death” - 2021 (provisional).
Then we selected “drug poisonings (overdose) suicide” after clicking the “Drug/Alcohol Induced Causes” subsection within the “underlying cause of death” section.
Finally, we selected code T40.4 (Other Synthetic Narcotics) under the section entitled, “multiple cause of death,” after clicking the MCD - ICD-10 Codes option.
In order to determine the number of synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths that were determined to be “unintentional” in 2021, we replicated the process outlined above simply changing the underlying cause of death to “drug poisonings (overdose) unintentional.”
To complete this search for the year 2000, we used the “Multiple Cause of Death: 1999 to 2020” request form and replicated the methodology outlined above, but selected the year 2000 under the section entitled, “select year and month.”
Crude Rate & Percentage Calculations
When making comparisons in order to contextualize the data, we relied on the total number of deaths within each category, percentages, and on the per capita rate of deaths per 100,000 people of that group, or “crude rate.”
To calculate the crude rate of Americans who died from synthetic opioids (fentanyl) in 2021, separated out by ten year age groups, we divided the total number of synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths among each ten year age group (during 2021) by the population of each ten year age group (during 2021) and multiplied the answer by 100,000.
The crude rate gives a sense of what communities are most heavily affected by synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths. For example, Americans 35 to 44 were disproportionately impacted by synthetic opioid (fentanyl) fatalities in 2021 because the crude rate of deaths was highest among that age demographic last year - with a total of 45 deaths per 100,000 people that age.
To calculate the percentage of synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths caused by suicide in 2021, for example, we divided the number of suicide deaths for each ten year age group by the total number of synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths (for each ten year age group) and multiplied the result by 100.
Percentages allow us to better understand the underlying cause of synthetic opioid deaths. For example, while less than one percent of all synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths were attributed to suicide last year, over 16% of all synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths among Americans 75 to 84 were attributed to suicide.
To calculate the percentage increase from 2019 to 2021, for example, we first found the “numerical increase.” To do this we subtracted the number of synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths in 2019 from the total number of synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths in 2021. We then divided the numerical increase by the number of deaths in 2019 and multiplied our answer by 100.
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Ten Year Age Links
Underlying Cause of Death Links
