Abstract
Substance abuse is a complex problem in the elderly population. It is one of the problems among the older population which is largely overlooked and under reported. Many factors contribute to this, not least the fact that presentation may be atypical and hence easily missed by the medical practitioner. There may be many clues to its existence, provided the physician remains alert to these. Despite this it is quite comforting to know that once identified, the evidence to date suggests that older people may respond at least as well as younger people to treatment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Taylor MH, Grossberg GT. The growing problem of illicit substance abuse in the elderly: a review. Prim Care Companion CNS Disord. 2012;14(4):PCC.11r01320.
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 4th ed. Text revision. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing; 2000.
Wu LT, Blazer DG. Illicit and nonmedical drug use among older adults: a review. J Aging Health. 2011;23(3):481–504.
Colliver JD, Compton WM, Gfroerer JC, Condon T. Projecting drug use among aging baby boomers in 2020. Ann Epidemiol. 2006;16:257–65.
Brennan PL, Moos RH. Late-life drinking behaviour: the influence of personal characteristics, life context, and treatment. Alcohol Health Res World. 1996;20:197–204.
Reardon C. The changing face of older adult substance abuse. Soc Work Today. 2012;12(1):8.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. Office of applied studies. The DAWN Report: emergency department visits involving illicit drug use by older adults. 2008. http://www.samhsa.gov/data/2k10/DAWN015/015IllicitAbuse.pdf
Lembke A. Why doctors prescribe opioids to known opioid abusers. N Engl J Med. 2012;17:1580–1.
Bogunovic O. Substance abuse in aging and elderly adults. Psychiatric Times. 2012;29(8):39–40. http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/geriatric-psychiatry/substance-abuse-aging-and-elderly-adults.
Patterson TL, Jeste DV. The potential impact of the baby-boom generation on substance abuse among elderly persons. Psychiatr Serv. 1999;50:1184–8.
Moore AA, Seeman T, Morgenstern H, et al. Are there differences between older persons who screen positive on the CAGE questionnaire and the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test-Geriatric Version? J Am Geriatr Soc. 2002;50:858–86.
Steinhagen KA, Friedman MB. Substance abuse and misuse in older adults. Aging Well. 2001;3:20.
Schonfeld L, King-Kallimanis BL, Duchene DM, et al. screening and brief intervention for substance misuse among older adults: the Florida BRITE project. Am J Public Health. 2010;100(1):108–14.
Patterson TL, Lacro JP, Jeste DV. Abuse and misuse of medications in the elderly. Psychiatric Times. 1999;16(4):54–7.
McGrath A, Crome P, Crome IB. Substance misuse in the older population. Postgrad Med J. 2005;81:228–31.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Babypaul, D., Czernicki, M., Kunnumpurath, S. (2015). Substance Abuse in the Elderly. In: Kaye, A., Vadivelu, N., Urman, R. (eds) Substance Abuse. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1951-2_36
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1951-2_36
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-1950-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-1951-2
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)