Service inquiries to city phone lines can help identify “hot spots” for opioid overdose

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.November 11, 2020

Service requests to the city’s non-emergency telephone lines can help identify “hot spots” for opioid use and overdoses, a Columbus study found.

The researchers found that calls to line 311 – used in many U.S. cities to report non-emergency issues – closely followed the places and times in Columbus where opioid overdose events were on the rise.

The results showed that calls about code violations, public health, and street lighting were the best indicators of opioid use in Columbus communities.

Complaints to the city on issues such as street lamp repairs, abandoned vehicles and code violations reflect the clutter and distress that are also linked to opioid use. “

Yuchen Li, Study LPrincipal author and Sandidate PhD in Geography, The Ohio State University

“311 data helps identify which parts of the community could be the next tipping point for opioid overdoses.”

The study was published today in the journal Scientific reports.

The findings suggest that data from 311 calls may be an effective surveillance indicator of opioid overdose to direct awareness and resources where they are needed, said Harvey Miller, study co-author and professor of geography at Ohio State.

“The 311 calls are somewhat of a conversation between communities and the city about what is of immediate concern to residents,” said Miller, who is director of the Ohio Center for Urban and Regional Analysis.

“These data provide a more dynamic and useful way to monitor the opioid crisis in American cities.”

For the study, the researchers obtained data on the responses of Columbus emergency personnel to opioid overdoses in the city between 2008 and 2017. These incidents are monitored, aggregated, and summarized on the Opioid Crisis Activity Level Map (FOCAL) of Franklin County.

The researchers compared the location and time of each overdose with data received on 311 calls received from residents in the same area at almost the same time.

The 311 calls aren’t about drug use, Miller said. But the results show they indicate when the areas are becoming a hot spot for opioid overdoses.

“The 311 data point to environmental and social stressors that are also associated with drug use,” he said.

“The findings add to the scientific evidence that the opioid crisis is rooted in social inequality, distress and underinvestment in communities.”

Results showed that 10 of the 21 types of 311 requests were specifically associated with nearby opioid overdoses. Claims for code violations, public health issues such as pest management, food safety and unsanitary conditions from animals, and problems with street lighting have been the most accurate predictors of opioid overdose hotspots.

Other drug-related calls included those about abandoned vehicles, animal complaints, law enforcement, litter / garbage / litter, road maintenance, road signs, and water / sewage / drains.

Calls not related to overdose included those related to snow and ice removal, trees, recreation, and parks.

“The kind of claims we expect to be good indicators of opioid use are the ones that worked,” Miller said.

“They are also the same indicators that suggest poverty and hardship”.

The power of using 311 calls to identify opioid hotspots is that it is much more up to date than other indicators of social distress, Li said.

“Communities are dynamic and constantly changing. 311 calls can provide us with valuable information faster than we get from census data,” he said.