TUCSON, Ariz. — More and more cardiac arrests in Arizona are being caused by opioid overdoses, according to a new study from the University of Arizona.
The study, authored by two UA medical students, finds that of the 15 people who suffer from cardiac arrest every day in Arizona, two are related to opioid overdoses.
The researchers' data included more than 21,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests between 2010 and 2015. In that time period, the study found the percent of opioid-related cardiac arrests jumped from 4.7 percent to 6.6 percent.
The average age of opioid-related cardiac arrest patients was 38, compared with an average age of 66 for the rest.