Construction and food preparation workers were more likely than those in other professions to die from overdoses during the COVID-19 pandemic, new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows.
Researchers from the CDC found that among different industries, drug overdose death rates were highest in construction and extraction and food preparation in 2020. The researchers analyzed fatal drug overdose data from 46 states and New York City, largely focusing on different industries and occupations.
“The variation observed in drug overdose death rates and [proportionate mortality ratios] by usual occupation and industry during 2020 highlights the uneven burden of drug overdose deaths on subsets of the U.S. workforce as a significant health equity issue,” reads the study, which was released Tuesday.
Workers in construction, accommodation and food services, other services, management, administrative and waste services, mining, arts, entertainment and recreation and transportation and warehousing experienced higher drug overdose death rates in 2020 compared to the paid civilian workforce overall, the researchers found.
Construction had the highest drug overdose death rate across all the industries studied, with nearly 131 deaths per 100,000 workers. Accommodation and food services followed, with about 99 deaths per 100,000 workers.
Among individual occupations and industries, fishermen and hunters, roofers, drywall installers and those who worked in water transportation had the highest drug overdose proportion mortality ratio, the study found.
The report noted those who sustained injuries while working and used prescription opioids were more likely to overdose.
“Differences in drug overdose deaths across occupations and industries are hypothesized to result from two intersecting pathways: physical pain due to acute injury or cumulative physical trauma at work and work-related psychosocial stress,” the researchers wrote.
