Treating Substance Use Disorder in Older Adults NCBI Bookshelf

26 Sep Treating Substance Use Disorder in Older Adults NCBI Bookshelf

According to NIDA research, these substances include alcohol, marijuana, opioids, and other prescription medications. Health, behavioral health service, social service, and peer recovery support providers may be part of the support network clients identify. The selected client-, family-, and caregiver-oriented resources are designed to help readers become better informed about SUDs and other conditions, make decisions about addiction treatment, improve recovery and health, and find support during their recovery or caregiving journey. The number of adults 55 years and older in the U.S. who entered treatment for opioid use disorder with heroin tripled between 2007 and 2017 57.

• Treatment options remain generally limited, as few programs or health care settings offer tailored interventions for older adults.
• Alcohol abuse is prevalent among older adults due to factors such as social isolation, retirement, and the availability of alcohol.
• Seniors who dabbled with drugs in their youth may be more likely to turn to similar drugs, particularly marijuana, to treat ailments of old age including chronic pain.
• The abundance of missed opportunities for screening and treating older adults with substance use problems will have devastating consequences if they are not appropriately addressed moving forward.

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There is less known about the safety of buprenorphine in older adults compared to methadone although it may be preferable because it is less likely to cause withdrawal symptoms, erectile dysfunction, constipation, or respiratory depression 63. Buprenorphine can also be prescribed by primary care physicians whereas methadone must be administered at qualified opioid treatment centers. Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reports that in adults 65 years and older, 0.2% had used cocaine in the past year in 2019, and 0.3% in 2020 3. Between 2000 and 2017, older adults showed greater increases in proportions admitted for cocaine/crack relative to younger adults 49.

Substance Use Disorders in Older Adults: Overview and Future Directions

To begin to help determine the best ways to optimize the use of proven models to reach older adults at risk for problem alcohol and/or psychoactive prescription medication use, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) at the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminsitration (SAMHSA) funded the translation of science to service project that formed the basis for developing this manual. During addiction treatment for older adults, providers will want to remain aware of how age-related physical differences may impact the recovery process. However, when combined with alcohol, illicit substances, or addictive prescription drugs, they may metabolize differently in the body and cause adverse effects.

• However, the following types of substance abuse care may meet the unique needs of this demographic.
• Of course, slurred speech, smelling of alcohol, and change in physical appearance are all signs that a person needs help and treatment.
• Furthermore, the advancement and development of interventions that may be more useful for, effective for, and desired by this incoming generation of older adults than previous generation, such as mobile interventions, will be crucial to alleviating the projected pressures on the health care system.
• However, older adults still experience certain risk factors that can increase their chances of substance misuse.
• A key consideration in the treatment of older adults with SUD is that they often have co-occurring general medical illnesses (Wu and Blazer, 2014).

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• Drug abuse can also exacerbate age-related cognitive decline and contribute to the development of psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety.
• Compared to their younger counterparts, older adults are more vulnerable to the impacts of alcohol.
• Some screening tools are adaptations of instruments created for younger adults, and others have been designed for older adults.

These seniors think that having an addiction means they have a character flaw, a personality defect, or are socially deviant in some way. It’s a big and Sober living house sometimes scary step to take, and most people would prefer to skip it altogether if they could get sober independently. Since most people can’t, treatment is usually the answer, and it’s almost always the correct answer.

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Ultimately, the validation of screening tools in older adults and careful assessment of these patients are necessary to aid further discussion on substance use and diagnosis. There exist numerous screening and diagnostic tools for alcohol and substance use in the general population; however, these tools must be validated in the geriatric population due to the unique social characteristics of older adults. Several screening tools have been adapted or validated for use in older adults, particularly for alcohol https://ecosoberhouse.com/ use disorder (AUD). The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends screening older adults for alcohol misuse 8. Several screening tools have been adapted or validated for use in older adults, particularly for AUD, and are described in Table 2. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) single-item screener is a single question used to screen for unhealthy alcohol use that has been validated in the primary care setting.

Common Substances Misused by Older Adults

• Between 2000 and 2017, older adults showed greater increases in proportions admitted for cocaine/crack relative to younger adults 49.
• Early intervention can prevent further harm and improve the chances of successful treatment and recovery.
• Visitors to the site can access news; education and continuing medical education activities; information for patients, teens, and parents; and a clinician resource and quick reference guide for drug screening.

Age trends in SUDs across ages 18–90 showed that disparities by race/ethnicity varied with age; for example, SUDs were more prevalent in Black adults at older ages and more prevalent in White adults at younger ages 81. In addition to this, while telehealth is becoming more common in the post-COVID-19 era, satisfaction with telehealth among older adults showed lower satisfaction among those with lower socioeconomic status and among certain minorities including Black, Hispanic, and Native Americans 82. These findings suggest an interplay between older age, race, and socioeconomic status that must be further explored to provide the most appropriate care for the geriatric population. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), one what is the best treatment for substance abuse for older adults study suggests that people addicted to cocaine in their youth may have an accelerated age-related decline in temporal lobe gray matter and a smaller temporal lobe compared to control groups who did not use cocaine. Being as the temporal lobe is the hub for pleasure, emotion, and behavior, these older adults with SUDs may have more difficulty with anxiety, emotional regulation, and collecting data.