Discussion topics in this subcommittee are related to: 

The CSTE Overdose Subcommittee was formed to raise the visibility of drug overdose deaths among applied epidemiologists and public health partners, and to improve surveillance for fatal drug overdoses at the state and local levels. Currently, the Subcommittee work includes both morbidity and mortality surveillance. In 2009, national vital statistics data showed that drug overdose deaths exceeded motor vehicle deaths for the first time. By 2021, the US is facing a decades long overdose epidemic once driven by prescription opioids, then by heroin, now by fentanyl and its analogs and, increasingly, methamphetamine. Improving epidemiologic data and public health prevention strategies for drug overdoses remain high priorities. Death certificate-based vital statistics data are now being supplemented with hospital administrative discharge, emergency medical services, and syndromic surveillance data. The use of new, and more timely, data sources has allowed the CSTE Overdose Subcommittee to build on methodological work to improve specific drug overdose reporting on death certificates.  Currently, the CSTE Overdose Subcommittee focuses on developing best practices for overdose morbidity surveillance and timely data sharing of morbidity data and conducting multi-state studies on the intersection of health equity and overdose. The subcommittee meets every other month (even months) via conference call. For more information about the Overdose Subcommittee and its activities, please contact Danielle Boyd. Click here to view other Cross Cutting Steering Committee activities. Additional CSTE Overdose work can be found via the Injury Surveillance Subcommittee page. In related efforts, CSTE has partnered with the Centers for Disease Control’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control to offer overdose surveillance support and technical assistance through initiatives such as capacity assessments, interactive learning series, webinars, and the creation of online courses. These resources can be accessed here.

Resources:   2019 CSTE Position Statement 19-CC-01 Nonfatal Opioid Overdose Standardized Surveillance Case Definition This case definition was designed to inform public health surveillance practice of case identification, follow-up investigation when possible, and the identification and combining of case data across data sources include reporting from healthcare providers, hospitals (especially emergency departments), emergency medical services, poison control centers, laboratories, syringe service programs, harm reduction programs, and law enforcement.  2016 recommendations document that provides guidance and lessons learned by epidemiologists and public health professionals conducting fatal overdose surveillance. 2015 tool that analyzes the text on death certificates and identifies specific drugs mentioned. This tool consists of a SAS program designed to review the text data on the death certificate, an excel spreadsheet with common search terms found on the death certificates, and a text document explaining the tool. These tools can help state analysts to improve drug overdose surveillance activities. Click here to download the tool (The downloadable zip file includes an Excel document, a SAS document, and a PDF document.)