Older Adult Substance Use Treatment First-Time Admissions Between 2008 and 2018

To see whether the percentage of older adults entering substance use treatment for their first time continued to increase and whether there were changes in the use patterns leading to the treatment episode, particularly an increase in illicit drugs.

Public administrative health record study.

The Treatment Episode Data Sets publicly available from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration from 2008 to 2018.

Young adults age 30-54 years (N = 3,327,903) and older adults age 55 years and older (N = 453,598) with a first-time admission for a publicly funded substance use treatment.

Demographic and substance use history variables at admission.

The proportion of older adults going for substance use treatment for the first time continued to increase between 2008 and 2018 relative to younger adults, continuing the trend of increasing first-time admission between 1998 and 2008. For the first time, the primary substance at admission for older adults was an illicit substance only, surpassing alcohol only and the combination of alcohol and illicit drug use. In this period, use of opioids, particularly heroin, and methamphetamine increased among older adults entering treatment.

As our population ages and substance use trends change, healthcare providers that take care of older adults must have skills to prevent, screen for, diagnose, and treat substance use disorders. Given recent trends in substance use and treatment among older adults, substance use treatment programs must adapt to meet the needs of an older population.