Opioid overdose deaths more likely among injured workers: Study
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Working-age Massachusetts residents who died between 2011 and 2020 were 35% more likely to have died of an opioid-related overdose if they had previously been injured at work, according to data released Thursday by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
In linking the aftermath of work-related injuries to opioid-related overdose deaths, DPH compiled public health information about individuals’ employment and work-related injury statuses from their workers compensation claims and linked it with data from death certificates.
By linking these data sets, DPH found that of the 4,304 of workers ages 16 to 64 who had at least one workplace injury claim, 17.2% died from an opioid-related overdose between 2011 and 2020.
Sprains and strains, particularly of the back, were the most common injury types among those who suffered fatal opioid-related overdoses — a “significant finding” that the department says links acute and chronic pain from occupational injuries and opioid use and death.
Overall, 28.2% of the 741 Massachusetts workers who were previously injured at work and who died of an opioid-related overdose between 2011 and 2020 worked in construction and extraction occupations, such as quarrying and mining, according to the data. This is followed by 11.2% who worked in transportation and material-moving, and 6.8% who worked in food preparation and serving-related occupations.
