Abstract：
BACKGROUND: The availability and use of broadband internet play an increasingly important role in health care and public health.
OBJECTIVE: This study examined the associations between broadband internet availability and use with drug overdose deaths in the United States.
METHODS: We linked 2019 county-level drug overdose death data in restricted-access multiple causes of death files from the National Vital Statistics System at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with the 2019 county-level broadband internet rollout data from the Federal Communications Commission and the 2019 county-level broadband usage data available from Microsoft\'s Airband Initiative. Cross-sectional analysis was performed with the fixed-effects regression method to assess the association of broadband internet availability and usage with opioid overdose deaths. Our model also controlled for county-level socioeconomic characteristics and county-level health policy variables.
RESULTS: Overall, a 1% increase in broadband internet use was linked with a 1.2% increase in overall drug overdose deaths. No significant association was observed for broadband internet availability. Although similar positive associations were found for both male and female populations, the association varied across different age subgroups. The positive association on overall drug overdose deaths was the greatest among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White populations.
CONCLUSIONS: Broadband internet use was positively associated with increased drug overdose deaths among the overall US population and some subpopulations, even after controlling for broadband availability, sociodemographic characteristics, unemployment, and median household income.
OBJECTIVE: This study examined the associations between broadband internet availability and use with drug overdose deaths in the United States.
METHODS: We linked 2019 county-level drug overdose death data in restricted-access multiple causes of death files from the National Vital Statistics System at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with the 2019 county-level broadband internet rollout data from the Federal Communications Commission and the 2019 county-level broadband usage data available from Microsoft\'s Airband Initiative. Cross-sectional analysis was performed with the fixed-effects regression method to assess the association of broadband internet availability and usage with opioid overdose deaths. Our model also controlled for county-level socioeconomic characteristics and county-level health policy variables.
RESULTS: Overall, a 1% increase in broadband internet use was linked with a 1.2% increase in overall drug overdose deaths. No significant association was observed for broadband internet availability. Although similar positive associations were found for both male and female populations, the association varied across different age subgroups. The positive association on overall drug overdose deaths was the greatest among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White populations.
CONCLUSIONS: Broadband internet use was positively associated with increased drug overdose deaths among the overall US population and some subpopulations, even after controlling for broadband availability, sociodemographic characteristics, unemployment, and median household income.
摘要：
背景：宽带互联网的可用性和使用在医疗保健和公共卫生中发挥着越来越重要的作用。
目的：本研究调查了美国宽带互联网可用性和使用药物过量死亡之间的关联。
方法：我们将美国疾病控制和预防中心国家生命统计系统中限制访问的多种死亡原因文件中的2019年县级药物过量死亡数据与联邦通信委员会的2019年县级宽带互联网部署数据和MicrosoftAirbandInitiative提供的2019年县级宽带使用数据相关联。使用固定效应回归方法进行横断面分析，以评估宽带互联网可用性和使用与阿片类药物过量死亡的关联。我们的模型还控制了县级社会经济特征和县级卫生政策变量。
结果：总体而言，宽带互联网使用量增加1%与药物过量死亡总数增加1.2%有关.没有观察到宽带互联网可用性的显着关联。尽管在男性和女性人群中都发现了类似的正相关，不同年龄亚组之间的关联不同.在西班牙裔和非西班牙裔白人人群中，总体药物过量死亡的正相关最大。
结论：在整个美国人口和一些亚群中，宽带互联网使用与药物过量死亡人数增加呈正相关。即使在控制了宽带可用性之后，社会人口统计学特征，失业,家庭收入中位数。
目的：本研究调查了美国宽带互联网可用性和使用药物过量死亡之间的关联。
方法：我们将美国疾病控制和预防中心国家生命统计系统中限制访问的多种死亡原因文件中的2019年县级药物过量死亡数据与联邦通信委员会的2019年县级宽带互联网部署数据和MicrosoftAirbandInitiative提供的2019年县级宽带使用数据相关联。使用固定效应回归方法进行横断面分析，以评估宽带互联网可用性和使用与阿片类药物过量死亡的关联。我们的模型还控制了县级社会经济特征和县级卫生政策变量。
结果：总体而言，宽带互联网使用量增加1%与药物过量死亡总数增加1.2%有关.没有观察到宽带互联网可用性的显着关联。尽管在男性和女性人群中都发现了类似的正相关，不同年龄亚组之间的关联不同.在西班牙裔和非西班牙裔白人人群中，总体药物过量死亡的正相关最大。
结论：在整个美国人口和一些亚群中，宽带互联网使用与药物过量死亡人数增加呈正相关。即使在控制了宽带可用性之后，社会人口统计学特征，失业,家庭收入中位数。
