A new report by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council reveals a dramatic increase in substance abuse among women who were admitted for pregnancy-related stays at hospitals across the state.
The report covers women ages 12 to 55 years in two-year increments, between 2000-2001 and 2016-17. It shows a rise in substance abuse from one for every 69 admissions at the start of the study to one in every 25 admissions for the most recent two years. The substances considered for the study included opioids, marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol.
Opioids were present in 19.6 of every 1,000 maternal admissions in 2016-17. In Indiana County, the rate was slightly higher. There were thirty cases of opioid use in Indiana County, a rate of 20.2 per 1,000 cases. Two of our neighboring counties had notably high rates: Clearfield had 80 cases of maternal substance abuse, a rate of 54 per 1,000 admissions. Armstrong had 60 cases, for a rate of 51.6. Cambria County had 99 cases, a rate of 36.3. Westmoreland’s rate was 33.5 per 1,000 hospital stays, with 213 cases. Jefferson had a rate of 17.4, with 16 cases. Clearfield.
Cases with opioid use had a premature birth rate of 19.2 percent. The rate was 9.4 percent for cases without opioids.
