Older Patients at Increased Risk for Substance Use, Comorbid Psychiatric Disorders

A presenter at the Psych Congress 2020 Virtual Experience conference said substance use is rising among older patients and compounded by comorbid psychiatric disorders, reports Healio . "Over the course of the past decade, the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health have indicated an increase in prevalence of alcohol use disorders, as well as cannabis use disorders and cocaine use," said Olivera Bogunovic at Harvard Medical School's McLean Hospital. "According to the 2012 Treatment Episode Data Set study, there were 14,230 admissions to substance abuse treatment programs for patients aged 65 years and older, and it is very important to note that a lot of these hospitalizations led to significant morbidity and mortality. We also have the survey from the Drug Abuse Warning Network that indicated a number of emergency department (ED) visits related to substance use disorders among older adults." The latter poll calculated 2,056 drug-related ED visits, with 290 associated with illegal drug use, nonmedical use of pharmaceuticals, or use of alcohol in combination with other drugs. Bogunovic added that alcohol use disorder is forecast to increase in the aging geriatric population. "It's very important to do detailed psychiatric, neurological, and social evaluations, and what is going to be most helpful is evaluation of the motivational stage of change," she said. Bogunovic added that determining whether a need for detoxification exists is the most imperative aspect of evaluation.