Central Oregon Health Council :: Measures for Substance and Alcohol Misuse: Prevention and Treatment

Why are these measures important?

Please see the information below, describing the measures being tracked for this priority area, and why they are important.

Learn more about this topic and others through funded pilots and projects on the "What We're Learning" page.

Binge Drinking Among 18-34 Year-Olds

According to the 2017 report, “Pain in the Nation: The Drug, Alcohol, and Suicide Crises and the Need for a National Resiliency Strategy”, Oregon ranked third in the nation for alcohol-related deaths.
The Oregon Health Authority’s 2018 State Health Assessment highlights a 38% increase in the overall rate of alcohol-related deaths in Oregon since 2001.
“Excessive alcohol use can increase a person’s risk of developing serious health problems such as brain and liver damage, heart disease, cancer, fetal damage in pregnant women, and early death. It is a risk factor for injuries, violence, unintended pregnancy, and motor vehicle crashes” (OHA State Health Assessment, 2018).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that opioid misuse is also linked to binge drinking (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2019).
In Central Oregon, 37.5% of people ages 18-34 reported binge drinking on at least 1 occasion in the past 30 days, as compared with 10.8% of people ages 35-54, and people over the age of 55 (RHA, 2019, p.183).

In Central Oregon, we are seeing the following:

Binge drinking among 18-34 year-olds is 32%, and the target in the 2020-2024 RHIP is decreasing this percentage to 25%.

Youth Vaping and E-Cigarette Use

Tobacco use is the number-one cause of preventable death and disease in Oregon (OHA Tobacco Facts, 2018).
Each year, tobacco use kills nearly 8,000 Oregonians (Oregon Vital Statistics, 2018) and costs $2.5 billion in medical expenses, lost productivity, and early death (CDC, 2008).
Tobacco-related death rates per 100,000 population between 2013-2016 were 183.6 in Crook County, 128.7 in Deschutes County, and 160.1 in Jefferson County (Oregon Center for Health Statistics, 2019).
E-cigarette use among 11th graders increased three-fold from 2013-2015, from 5% to 17%, with the first decline in e-cigarette use among Oregon youth see in 2017 (OHA Tobacco Facts, 2018).
As of November 26, 2019, 19 cases of vaping related illnesses have been reported in Oregon, two of which resulted in death. Some Oregon cases do involve individuals under the age of 18 and include a mix of cannabis-only vaping, nicotine-only vaping, and a combination of both (OHA, 2019).

In Central Oregon, we are seeing the following:

In Crook County, youth vaping or e-cigarette use among 11th-grade students is 21.2%, and the target in the 2020-2024 RHIP is decreasing this percentage to 20.2%.
In Deschutes County, youth vaping or e-cigarette use among 11th-grade students is 21.4%, and the target in the 2020-2024 RHIP has currently been met at 26.5%.
In Jefferson County, youth vaping or e-cigarette use among 11th-grade students is 14.4%, and the target in the 2020-2024 RHIP has currently been met at 14.9%.

Engagement in Treatment for Substance Use Disorders

Oregon’s current Governor, Kate Brown, signed an executive order on March 27, 2018 declaring substance abuse a public health crisis (Governor’s Office Newsroom, 2018).
According to the Oregon Substance Use Disorder Research Committee’s 2017 Report, “Substance Use Disorders in Oregon – Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery”, one out of every ten Oregonians struggle with drugs or alcohol, and that addiction costs the state approximately $6 billion per year. That cost is inclusive of health care costs and policing.
Additionally, approximately two of every three Oregonians either struggle with a substance use disorder or have a friend that does.
Mental health and substance use disorders affect people from all walks of life and all age groups.
These illnesses are common, recurrent, and often serious, but they are treatable, and many people do recover.
As with other diseases and disorders, the likelihood of developing an addiction differs from person to person, and biological, environmental, and other factors increase the risk of addiction (NIDA, Science of Addiction, 2018).

In Central Oregon, we are seeing the following:

The percentage of individuals that are newly diagnosed with alcohol or drug dependence who began treatment within 14-days is 17.4%, and the target in the 2020-2024 RHIP is increasing this percentage to 30%.

Mental Health/Substance Abuse Emergency Department Visits

Addressing the risk and protective factors associated with substance misuse is essential to prevent and reduce it.
Research indicates that preventing substance misuse can have far-reaching implications for individuals, families, and our community as a whole, including impact on education, community safety, health care, employment, and quality of life.
Oregon has one of the highest rates of misuse of prescription opioids in the nation (OHA, 2019). Coupled with the misuse of opioids, the co-use of methamphetamine is on the rise in rural Oregon (Haelle, 2019).
In fact, the simultaneous use of opioids and methamphetamine rose from 19% to 34% between 2011 and 2017 (Haelle, 2019).
In Oregon, deaths from methamphetamine overdoses are up 400% between 2012 and 2017 (NIDA, 2019).
Data in the Central Oregon Regional Health Assessment for methamphetamine overdoses is only available for Deschutes County, however, the three-year methamphetamine overdose rate in both Deschutes County and in Oregon overall appears to be increasing (RHA, 2019, p.195).
Heavy drinking, tobacco use, and drug use are associated with higher rates of all-cause mortality, chronic disease, violence, and abuse.
Substance Use Disorder is preventable, treatable, and can be successfully managed (NIDA, 2018).
Research shows that individualized treatment to address the physical, psychiatric, environmental, and social factors, provide improved and sustainable outcomes (NIDA, 2018).

In Central Oregon, we are seeing the following:

In Madras, emergency department visits due to mental health/substance abuse are 19.8 per 1,000 people, and the target in the 2020-2024 RHIP is decreasing this rate to 13.8 per 1,000 people.
In Prineville, emergency department visits due to mental health/substance abuse are 22.8 per 1,000 people, and the target in the 2020-2024 RHIP is decreasing this rate to 15.0 per 1,000 people.
In Warm Springs, emergency department visits due to mental health/substance abuse are 53.4 per 1,000 people, and the target in the 2020-2024 RHIP is decreasing this rate to 35.3 per 1,000 people.