Trends in Self-Reported Fentanyl and Other Illicit Substance Use in South Carolina Emergency Department Patients, 2020-2022

Background: Opioid-involved deaths are con-tinuing to increase across the United States, exceeding 100,000 for the first time in 2021. Contamination with, and intentional use of, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl are a major driver of this increase. Utilizing self-report substance use data of patients being treated in the emergency depart-ment (ED) can be useful to determine which substances patients are intentionally seeking. Objectives: 1) Examine changes in self-reported illicit substance use (including fen-tanyl) over time; 2) Examine changes in the co-occurrence of self-reported fentanyl with other illicit substance use over time. Methods: All patients presenting to the study EDs that answered anything other than "never" on the National In-stitute on Drug Abuse Quick Screen and were seen by a peer recovery specialist in the ED between July 1, 2020 and De-cember 31, 2022 were included for analysis. The substance of use as reported by each patient was recorded by the peer recovery specialist. Differences in substance use by type over time were examined using chi-squared tests of proportions. Results: There were 7568 patients that met inclusion crite-ria. Self-reported fentanyl (1760%; p < 0.0001) and cocaine (82%; p = 0.034) use increased, whereas heroin use (16%; p < 0.0001) decreased. Conclusions: Self-reported fentanyl and cocaine use has increased significantly in South Carolina ED patients between 2020 and 2022. Given the high mor-bidity and mortality associated with fentanyl and fentanyl analog use, further measures to identify these patients and provide harm reduction and treatment from the ED setting are warranted.(c) 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.