| Course | HEP 444 Epidemiology |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 1 |
| Paper type | Descriptive epidemiology case study |
| Length | About 595 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Arizona State University |
| Program | BS in Health Education and Health Promotion |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HEP 444 Module 1
Person, Place and Time: Describing Drug Overdose Deaths in the United States, 2003 to 2023
Student Name
BS in Health Education and Health Promotion, Arizona State University
HEP 444: Epidemiology
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Person, Place and Time: Describing Drug Overdose Deaths in the United States, 2003 to 2023
Introduction
Descriptive work in epidemiology sorts cases by the people affected, the places they live and the timing of events. It does not test causes, but it shows where a problem is concentrated and generates hypotheses for analytic studies (Macera et al., 2013). Drug overdose ranks among the country's leading causes of injury death, and its pattern has changed sharply over two decades.
Magnitude
In 2023, 105,007 people died of drug overdose in the United States, an age-adjusted rate of 31.3 deaths per 100,000 population, down 4.0% from 32.6 in 2022 (Garnett & Miniño, 2024). Age adjustment removes differences caused by the population's age structure, so rates can be compared across years and groups.
Person
Source: Garnett and Miniño (2024); age-specific rates are not age adjusted.
The male rate was well over double the female rate. Deaths peaked in middle adulthood, with the highest rate among adults aged 35 to 44, and fell sharply after 65. American Indian and Alaska Native people had the highest rate, about 13 times that of Asian people. By drug, synthetic opioids other than methadone, chiefly illicit fentanyl, were involved at a rate of 22.2 per 100,000, far above psychostimulants such as methamphetamine at 10.6, cocaine at 8.6 and heroin at 1.2 (Garnett & Miniño, 2024).
| Characteristic | Group | Age-adjusted rate per 100,000, 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Sex | Male | 44.3 |
| Sex | Female | 18.3 |
| Age | 15 to 24 | 13.5 |
| Age | 35 to 44 | 60.8 |
| Age | 65 and older | 14.7 |
| Race and Hispanic origin | American Indian or Alaska Native | 65.0 |
| Race and Hispanic origin | Black, non-Hispanic | 48.9 |
| Race and Hispanic origin | White, non-Hispanic | 33.1 |
| Race and Hispanic origin | Hispanic | 22.8 |
| Race and Hispanic origin | Asian, non-Hispanic | 5.1 |
Place
State rates varied tenfold. In 2023, crude overdose death rates were highest in West Virginia (76.7 per 100,000), the District of Columbia (61.9), Tennessee (49.5), Delaware (49.1) and Louisiana (47.4), and lowest in Nebraska (7.6), South Dakota (8.2), Iowa (12.2), North Dakota (14.2) and Montana (15.0) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2026). Arizona's crude rate was 33.4, with 2,479 deaths.
Time
The national age-adjusted rate rose from 8.9 per 100,000 in 2003 to 32.6 in 2022 before the 2023 decline (Garnett & Miniño, 2024). In Arizona, the crude rate climbed from 24.1 in 2019 to 33.8 in 2020, held near 34 to 36 through 2023 and fell to 31.3 in 2024 (CDC, 2026).
The jump between 2019 and 2020 in Arizona matches the national surge in 2020, the first pandemic year, when illicit fentanyl was spreading quickly.
| Arizona year | Deaths | Crude rate per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1,756 | 24.1 |
| 2020 | 2,427 | 33.8 |
| 2021 | 2,604 | 35.8 |
| 2022 | 2,486 | 33.8 |
| 2023 | 2,479 | 33.4 |
| 2024 | 2,324 | 31.3 |
Hypotheses Generated
1. The rise in deaths since the mid-2010s is driven mainly by exposure to illicitly manufactured fentanyl rather than by more people using drugs.
2. Higher rates among American Indian and Alaska Native people reflect differences in access to treatment and naloxone as well as exposure.
3. State differences partly reflect the timing of fentanyl's arrival in each state's drug supply.
These hypotheses could be tested with analytic designs such as case-control studies of overdose decedents and survivors.
Limitations
Counts drawn from death certificates rely on how thoroughly toxicology is tested and coded, which vary by state. Race is sometimes misclassified on death certificates, especially for American Indian and Alaska Native people, which may understate their rate. State figures here are crude rates, so states with older populations may look lower than they would after age adjustment.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2026). Mapping injury, overdose, and violence: State [Data set]. https://data.cdc.gov/d/fpsi-y8tj
Garnett, M. F., & Miniño, A. M. (2024). Drug overdose deaths in the United States, 2003-2023 (NCHS Data Brief No. 522). National Center for Health Statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db522.htm
Macera, C. A., Shaffer, R. A., & Shaffer, P. M. (2013). Introduction to epidemiology: Distribution and determinants of disease. Delmar Cengage Learning.
HEP 444 Module 1 instructions, in plain terms
The Descriptive Epidemiology Case Study in HEP 444 is worth 25 points. You are given a mortality or morbidity topic and asked to describe its distribution by person, place and time using descriptive epidemiology methods from the Macera text. Use rates rather than counts when comparing groups, say whether rates are crude, age-specific or age adjusted, and cite reputable data sources such as the National Center for Health Statistics or the CDC. The syllabus does not allow quotations, so paraphrase every source, and written work must follow the course format of 12-point Times New Roman with one-inch margins. Pick data from the most recent final year available, and note when you rely on provisional figures.
How this HEP 444 Module 1 example is built
The sample defines descriptive epidemiology in two sentences and gives the national count and age-adjusted rate. A person section presents a table of rates by sex, age and race and Hispanic origin, followed by a paragraph that interprets the differences and adds drug-type rates. The place section compares the highest and lowest states, and the time section traces national and Arizona trends with a second table. The paper ends with three testable hypotheses and the limitations of death certificate data. Every table carries a source line and says which rates are age adjusted and which are not. The place section names both extremes, so the reader sees the full range, and the Arizona table makes the national trend concrete for a local reader.
Reading the HEP 444 Module 1 grading rubric
The case study is worth 25 points. Readers check that person, place and time are each covered with appropriate measures, that rates are correctly labeled and interpreted, that sources are current and credible and that the paper moves from description to hypotheses without claiming causes. Marks drop when counts are compared across groups of different sizes, when crude and adjusted rates are mixed without comment, when one dimension is thin and when the writing quotes sources instead of paraphrasing them. Strong papers also explain why a pattern might exist without claiming to prove it, and they acknowledge the weaknesses of the data, such as coding differences and misclassification of race on death certificates.
HEP 444 Module 1 help from the desk
Start by finding one national source with rates by person and time, then add a state or county source for place. Build your tables before writing. Interpret each table in a sentence or two: what is highest, lowest and changing. Label every rate's type and year. Keep hypotheses specific and testable. Paraphrase every source; the syllabus deducts for quotations. If the rate types confuse you, the desk can walk through them. Use the same year for person and place data where possible, so comparisons line up. Round rates to one decimal place. Write your hypotheses as statements an analytic study could test, naming the exposure and the outcome.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Arizona State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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HEP 444 Module 1 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HEP 444 Module 1 sample paper?
The full Descriptive Epidemiology Case Study on U.S. drug overdose deaths is on this page.
What are person, place and time in descriptive epidemiology?
Who is affected, where the cases occur and when they occur or how the rate changes.
What is an age-adjusted rate?
A rate standardized to a common age distribution so groups or years with different age structures can be compared.
How many people died of drug overdose in the U.S. in 2023?
105,007, an age-adjusted rate of 31.3 per 100,000.
Can I use quotations in HEP 444 papers?
No; the syllabus deducts a point for each quotation, so paraphrase.