Addressing Prescription Drug Addiction in Older Adults

National Institute on Drug Abuse research shows that there has been a surge over the last decade in opioid misuse in older men and women, according to U.S. News and World Report . Between 2002 and 2014, opioid abuse almost doubled in those age 50 and older from about 1 percent to 2 percent. Meanwhile, an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) report released this past fall found that, among people 65 and older, opioid-related emergency room visits soared 74 percent from 2010 to 2015. That same study found that opioid-related inpatient stays were up 34 percent. AHRQ's research also found that there were 124,300 opioid-related hospital admissions of individuals 65 and up nationwide in 2015. Some adjustments in addressing addiction in seniors may help. Along those lines, experts recommend encouraging conversation, seeking out age-appropriate support groups, making sure other medical problems are treated as well, and asking about having medications "de-prescribed." Dr. Lauren Gerlach, a geriatric psychiatrist and assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan, concludes, "It's really important to periodically kind of re-evaluate the medications that patients are on to figure out if there's a way that patients can safely come off of these medications."