Allegheny County Fatal Accidental Overdose Records

Fatal accidental overdose incidents in Allegheny County include data on age, gender, race, drugs present, and zip codes. The dataset comprises closed cases only, with previous calendar year data updated monthly. Zip code of incident denotes where the medical examiner received the body.

Use Cases

• Analyze demographic patterns in overdose incidents using age, gender, and race fields.
• Map overdose occurrences and residence disparities by comparing zip code of incident and zip code of residence.
• Identify substance co-occurrence trends by examining the drugs present field across cases.

Strengths

• Data is updated monthly for the previous calendar year, ensuring regular refresh cycles.
• Includes specific fields for demographic and geographic analysis such as age, gender, race, and zip codes.
• Records are from closed cases only, providing a finalized subset of incidents.

Limitations

• Zip code of incident may not reflect the actual overdose location, introducing potential geographic bias.
• Sample size and row count are unknown, limiting assessment of statistical power.
• Data scope is restricted to Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, limiting generalizability.

Provenance

Source

Allegheny County / City of Pittsburgh / Western PA Regional Data Center

Collection Method

Closed cases from the Office of the Medical Examiner.

Time Range

Covers previous calendar years, with specific years not stated.

Freshness

Updated monthly; last updated May 2023.

Geography

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA.