Page 177 - Petelin, Ana, ur. 2024. Zdravje delovno aktivnih in starejših odraslih / Health of Working-Age and Older Adults. Zbornik povzetkov z recenzijo ▪︎ Book of Abstracts. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem/University of Primorska Press

Trend in the number of intentional overdoses with a fatal outcome
in the years 2019 to 2022 in Slovenia

Mateja Jandl
National Institute of Public Health, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Background and purpose: The number of drug-related deaths is high in Slovenia (44 cas-
es per million inhabitants between the ages of 15 and 64) and steadily increased until
2020. The number of drug-related suicides fell from 23 cases in 2019 to three (3) cas-
es in 2020, and then started to rise again in 2021 and 2022. The most commonly in-
volved substances are illicit opioids, cocaine, medications (especially benzodiazepines,
antidepressants, prescription opioid analgesics) and alcohol. The aim of the research is
to find out which are the most common drugs, medicines and drug combinations used
by people who commit suicide in 2019-2022. A case study is conducted on 50 people
whose deaths were coded X61–X62 as External causes of morbidity and mortality ac-
cording to ICD -10 from the National Death Database. For each case, forensic autop-
sies and toxicology analyzes and involvement in drug addiction treatment will also be
reviewed and analyzed.
Content presentation: We will present data on drug-related deaths where suicide was
the intention (socio-demographic data, data on alcohol and main and related drugs).
Where possible, we will examine factors associated with suicide attempts: addiction
treatment, female sex, younger age, lower education, polydrug use, benzodiazepine
use, recent heroin overdose, major depression. From 2015 to 2021, the number of posterji | poster presentations
overdose deaths in the over-45 age group increased by 50%. So, there is an aging trend
among high-risk drug users, but mainly because of the increased number of deaths
among women who abuse drugs and prescription opioids for pain relief. In the last
three years, synthetic opioids, or opioid analgesics, were present in half of the over-
dose cases among deceased women.
Conclusions: Through this research, we obtained important information for under-
standing the main risk factors in Slovenia, which will be used to plan preventive meas-
ures. This includes revision of guidelines for prescribing opioid-based analgesics, estab-
lishing programmes for screening the patients at risk for overdose, and implementing
specific programs and strategies to reduce the risk of suicide in this population, such as
drug consumption rooms, take-home naloxone programmes, stigma reduction. It will
also contribute to a better understanding of this problem in an international context.
Keywords: illicit drugs, suicide, risk factors

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