Previous research has noted that the U.S. is facing dual public health crises associated with opioid use disorder (OUD) and HIV. Fatalities associated with OUD have been reported with increasing frequency and researchers have posited that simultaneous increases in HIV infection are a result of injection drug use. Once OUD has progressed, injection becomes the preferred route of administration, and opportunities for HIV infection are heightened.

The current body of literature outlining connections between HIV and OUD is not national in scope. Through analysis of national data as compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, we characterized simultaneous trends in OUD and HIV mortality separately (using the CDC WONDER data), as well as trends in mortality and comorbidity. This work explored whether rural populations in the U.S. have been disproportionately affected by the syndemic of OUD and increases in HIV transmission and whether regional variations in the burden of these diseases exist. The goals of this project were to examine mortality and morbidity associated with OUD and HIV infections and to examine trends in and predictors of hospitalizations associated with OUD and HIV infection.

Publications

• The Co-occurrence of HIV and Opioid Mortality in Rural and Urban America From 1999-2018
  Policy Brief
  Southwest Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 06/2021
  This project evaluates trends in mortality from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and opioid use in rural and urban areas of the U.S. It explores whether HIV and opioid deaths appear to be related over time in rural and urban areas.
• Factors Associated With Hospitalizations for Co-occurring HIV and Opioid-related Diagnoses: Evidence From the National Inpatient Sample, 2009-2017
  Journal Article
  Southwest Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 05/2023
  This study explores trends in co-occurring HIV and opioid-related hospitalizations and identifies key risk factors.