Surging opioid overdose deaths rates fueled a more than three-month loss in estimated life expectancy at birth in 2015, according to a recent study published in JAMA.
Using death rate statistics compiled in the CDC's National Vital Statistics System Mortality file from 2000 to 2015, researchers detected an overall two-year increase in life expectancy at birth from 76.8 years in 2000 to 78.8 years in 2015. The increase was attributable to declining death rates related to heart disease, cancer, cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, chronic lower respiratory diseases and kidney disease.
However, deaths from drug overdoses more than doubled from 2000 to 2015. This increase was primarily driven by a surge in opioid-related overdose deaths, which more than tripled over the same time period. Collectively, the rise in drug overdose deaths resulted in a roughly 3.5-month reduction in overall estimated life expectancy at birth for Americans in 2015.
"Increases in U.S. life expectancy at birth have leveled off from a mean of 0.20 years gained annually from 1970 to 2000 to 0.15 years gained annually from 2000 to 2014," concluded the study's authors. "U.S. life expectancy decreased from 2014 to 2015 and is now lower than in most high-income countries, with this gap projected to increase. These findings suggest that preventing opioid-related poisoning deaths will be important to achieving more robust increases in life expectancy once again."
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