New Study Finds Geographic Overlap In Opioid Use And Trump Support In 2016

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2685627

Question To what extent do socioeconomic measurements explain the county-level association of the 2016 US Republican presidential vote with opioid use?

Findings This cross-sectional analysis of a national sample of Medicare claims data found that chronic use of prescription opioid drugs was correlated with support for the Republican candidate in the 2016 US presidential election. Individual and county-level socioeconomic measures explained much of the association between the presidential vote and opioid use.

Meaning The association of the presidential vote with chronic opioid use underscores the importance of cultural, economic, and environmental factors associated with the opioid epidemic.

Conclusions and Relevance Support for the Republican candidate in the 2016 election is a marker for physical conditions, economic circumstances, and cultural forces associated with opioid use. The commonly used socioeconomic indicators do not totally capture all of those forces.