1. Study analyzed over 35 million hospitalizations from 2016-2021.
2. Nonfatal opioid overdose rates rose 8.1% in hospitals during COVID-19.
3. Emergency department visits for nonfatal overdoses increased by 24.8%.
4. Injection drug use-related infections rose by 14.4%.
5. Fentanyl was implicated in 67.3% of synthetic opioid diagnoses in 2021.
6. Demographic trends varied, with specific age groups showing distinct changes.
7. Calls for differentiated response strategies to address the crisis.

Source: eClinicalMedicine