Citation

Clay SW. Aging Health 2010; 6(2): 177-189.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Future Medicine)

DOI

10.2217/ahe.10.14

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Although it is often not considered and frequently undiagnosed, addiction disorders are a significant problem in the elderly. Elders are at a higher risk for the consequences of abuse or addiction owing to changes related to aging, multiple medications and chronic illness. The consequences of addiction disorders in this population include delirium, memory loss, suicide, falls and fractures, as well as drug-drug or drug-disease interactions. Abuse or addiction to alcohol or prescription or illicit drugs often presents differently in the elderly, may be inadvertent or prescriber-related and requires a different approach to assessment. Coexisting psychiatric or physical disorders together with addiction need to be considered in the overall functional status of the elderly. Treatment should be individualized based on the patients needs, readiness for change and available resources, and should vary from brief outpatient intervention to inpatient care. Treatment outcomes for elders are as good as or better than the outcome of younger adults. With an increasing proportion of the population becoming elders and the aging of 'baby boomers, an increase in addiction in this population, including to illicit drugs, is expected in the near future. Education of the public, as well as healthcare professionals, along with reassessment of the prevalence of these disorders in this population using age-appropriate criteria, are needed, since more resources will be required in order to treat these individuals in the near future. © 2010 Future Medicine Ltd.

Language: en

Keywords

human; prognosis; alcoholism; Treatment; aging; prevalence; Opioid-related disorder; Substance-related disorder; motivational interviewing; comorbidity; Addiction; risk factor; review; alcohol abuse; self help; functional assessment; physical disease; clonidine; confusion; drug dependence; support group; benzodiazepine derivative; drug dependence treatment; methadone; hypotension; lorazepam; illicit drug; detoxification; naltrexone; screening test; hypnotic agent; opiate addiction; sedative agent; low drug dose; acamprosate; folic acid; narcotic analgesic agent; multivitamin; thiamine; Withdrawal; buprenorphine; Dependence; drug dose increase; geriatric assessment; Older adult; oxazepam; drug dose escalation; alcohol use disorders identification test; Alcohol-related disorder; Benzodiazepine-related disorder; brief intervention; CAGE questionnaire; Johnson intervention; Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test