Overdoses Involving Synthetic Opioids Are the Leading Cause of Death for Young Adults in the U.S.
Top causes of death for ages 18–45, 2021
Notes: “Synthetic opioids” excludes methadone. This chart was created using data from the CDC, although the CDC has not stated that fentanyl is the leading cause of death for this age group. This is likely due to two aspects of the data:
1. In the CDC’s data, fentanyl is part of the “other synthetic opioids” category of drugs (code T40.4). Separate work has shown that fentanyl makes up the vast majority of this category, although the exact amount is not available.
2. In the CDC’s data, a death has a single “underlying cause” and can have additional “multiple causes,” and the “other synthetic opioids” category of drugs (code T40.4) is only available as a “multiple cause.”
This chart was created using data from CDC WONDER, using the CDC’s leading causes of death but breaking “accidents” into four separate categories: “Unintentional drug overdoses involving synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl),” “motor vehicle accidents,” “other unintentional drug overdoses,” and “other accidents.” “Unintentional drug overdoses involving synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl)” is the number of deaths where “unintentional drug overdose” (codes X40–44) was the underlying cause and “other synthetic opioids” (code T40.4) was a multiple cause.
1. In the CDC’s data, fentanyl is part of the “other synthetic opioids” category of drugs (code T40.4). Separate work has shown that fentanyl makes up the vast majority of this category, although the exact amount is not available.
2. In the CDC’s data, a death has a single “underlying cause” and can have additional “multiple causes,” and the “other synthetic opioids” category of drugs (code T40.4) is only available as a “multiple cause.”
This chart was created using data from CDC WONDER, using the CDC’s leading causes of death but breaking “accidents” into four separate categories: “Unintentional drug overdoses involving synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl),” “motor vehicle accidents,” “other unintentional drug overdoses,” and “other accidents.” “Unintentional drug overdoses involving synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl)” is the number of deaths where “unintentional drug overdose” (codes X40–44) was the underlying cause and “other synthetic opioids” (code T40.4) was a multiple cause.
Source: CDC.
