New AHRQ Report Shows Frequency of Substance Use at State, County Levels

A new report from AHRQ provides the most recent state- and county-level statistical analysis of hospitalizations related to the four most common types of substance-related care: alcohol, opioids, cannabis and stimulants. The analysis is based on 2013-15 data from 31 states that provide data to AHRQ’s Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), the nation’s most comprehensive source of hospital data. Among the report’s highlights:

Of counties providing data, Baltimore City, Maryland, had the highest rates of opioid (1,592 per 100,000 population), cannabis (843) and stimulant (931) stays and the third highest rate of alcohol-related stays (1,955)
Starr County, Texas, had the lowest rate of opioid-related stays (15 per 100,000), while Val Verde County, Texas, had the lowest rate for cannabis-related stays (19).
The alcohol stay rates in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, among the highest in the nation, cost an average of $98 and $95 per resident annually, respectively.

Overall, from 2013 to 2015, there was an average of one substance-related inpatient stay annually for every 100 people in the United States.