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Data Source

2022 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) Releases

This report presents 2022 data from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN).

DAWN: Findings from Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits, 2022

2022 DAWN Releases Frequently Asked Questions

1. Where did the data for the 2022 report come from?

  • The 2022 report is based on drug related data abstracted from the emergency departments (ED) of 53 participating hospitals.

2. What is different between the Final 2021 report and the 2022 report?

  • The 2022 report includes the rates for the top 6 drugs involved in emergency department (ED) visits and significance testing to support findings on results. This report also provides expanded analyses on ED visits related to more than 1 drug (polysubstance).

3. Can estimates be compared between the Final 2021 report and the 2022 report?

  • Between the Final 2021 and the 2022 report, there were no significant changes to data collection methods or the number of participating hospitals. Findings from the 2022 report can be compared to 2021 with caution due to slight changes in analytic substance surveillance definitions. Analytic definitions were developed utilizing DAWN’s codes to improve standardization and enable more comprehensive reporting. This differs from the 2021 report, which utilized a mixed method of codes and text searches to identify the top five drugs.

4. What if a drug is not mentioned in the 2022 report?

  • The annual report presents the top substances involved in drug-related ED visits, therefore not all drugs collected within DAWN make it to the findings. For example, xylazine is collected in DAWN, but weighted estimates for xylazine were not large enough to be included in the top six substances involved in drug-related ED visits.

5. How should this report be cited?

  • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2023). Drug Abuse Warning Network: Findings from Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits, 2022; Publication PEP23-07-03-001. Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/data.

2022 Report

DAWN: Findings from Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits, 2022

Annually, the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) releases nationally representative data on key findings from drug-related emergency department visits. DAWN’s latest annual report includes data from drug-related ED visits in 2022, and is organized into the following sections:

  1. Nationally representative weighted estimates, including percent and rates per 100,000, for all drug-related ED visits by age, sex, race, ethnicity, census region, and quarter
  2. Nationally representative weighted estimates, including percent and rates per 100,000, for the top drugs involved in drug-related ED visits by age, sex, race, ethnicity, census region, and quarter
  3. Nationally representative weighted estimates for different types of opioids involved in opioid-related ED visits
  4. Nationally representative weighted estimates for drug-related ED visits involving more than one substance
  5. Drugs that are new to DAWN’s drug vocabulary and classification system

In addition to these sections, the final report provides a description of the methodology for the DAWN hospital selection, data collection process, and weighting and analysis procedures.