Epidemiology of Use of Treatment Services for Substance Use Problems
The need for substance abuse and dependence treatment among adults aged ≥50years is projected to grow over the next several years. This chapter reviews and summarizes studies on the epidemiology of substance abuse treatment service use for individuals aged ≥50years, including use of treatment services for tobacco, alcohol, and drug use. Tobacco studies examined cigarette cessation and lacked information on treatment seeking prevalence. The available data suggested that adults aged ≥50years wanted to quit smoking, but the majority of older adults in medical settings have not received cessation advice or counseling. Alcohol studies found that 7%-10% of patients aged ≥65years seeking general healthcare screened positive for hazardous drinking, and the proportion of veterans or women aged ≥55years in alcohol related treatment settings ranged from 16%-17%. Data from the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) showed that older adults aged ≥50years represented 8%-10% of all substance abuse treatment admissions, with 3%-6% of admissions being for adults aged 50-54 and 3%-4% for those aged ≥55years. There were increases in the number of substance abuse treatment admissions over time in the past decade. Alcohol was the substance adults aged ≥50years had sought treatment for most often, but the number of substance abuse treatment admissions for alcohol problems only declined as admissions for illicit and prescription drug abuse increased.
