FOI REF: FOI-2023-1089
You asked
I am writing to make a request for statistics for the number of deaths involving propranolol, alprazolam, clonazepam, lorazepam, buspirone, hydroxyzine, escitalopram - a total of 7 drugs.
1. Number of death certificates mentioning the aforementioned drugs per year for the past 20 years in the UK, with split of sex and age group.
2. Number of death certificates mentioning the aforemention drugs per year, with a cause of death of suicide, for the past 20 years in the UK, with split of sex and age group.
3. Total number of death certificates with a cause of death of suicide per year, for the past 20 years in the UK, with split of sex and age group.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are responsible for the production of mortality data for England and Wales, this is driven by information collected from the death certificate at death registration. National Records Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for statistics pertaining to Scotland and Northern Ireland. They can be contacted at foi@nrscotland.gov.uk and info@nisra.gov.uk respectively.
We hold the following annual analysis, which provides deaths involving Benzodiazepines and anti-depressants: Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales. Please note this analysis does not provide individually named drugs such as escitalopram or lorazepam. Data for 2022 is provisionally scheduled for publication in October/November 2023.
We have also published the following bespoke user-requested datasets on this topic:
- Drug poisonings where benzodiazepines were mentioned on the death certificate, local authorities in Wales, registered between 1993 and 2017
- Drug-related deaths involving alprazolam in England and Wales, 2004 to 2016
We have not conducted analysis of deaths involving hydroxyzine, buspirone or escitalopram as individually named drugs, however we have analysis of deaths involving anti-depressant drugs as a whole in our annual publication.
Further analysis can be created as a bespoke analysis. Special extracts and tabulations of mortality data are available to order and are subject to disclosure control, legal frameworks, resources and agreement to costs under the ONS Charging policy.
If you would like further assistance or to obtain a quote for this work, please contact the Health Analysis and Pandemic Insight (HAPI) Customer service team at Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.
Suicide deaths involving specific drugs
We hold the following analysis: Deaths related to drug poisoning by selected substances, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). In the Substances involved in Suicides tab, you will find data for the following categories:
Benzodiazepine analogues,
Any benzodiazepine,
Any antidepressant along with a breakdown of any SSRI, Citalopram, mirtazapine, and Venlafaxine.
We have not conducted analysis of deaths involving the individually named drugs in the Benzodiazepine group, propranolol, hydroxyzine, buspirone or escitalopram as individually named drugs. However, as above, please contact the Health Data team for further information regarding bespoke analysis.
Deaths involving Suicide
We hold analysis of Suicides in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) which provides registered deaths in England and Wales from suicide analysed by sex, age, area of usual residence of the deceased, and suicide method from 1981 to 2021.
2022 data is due to be published in October 2023 to allow the inclusion of late registration. Registration delays are common with suicides, as they are referred to a Coroner for investigation.
If you have any queries regarding the data provided, please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.