title: Trends in substance abuse treatment 1998-2008: increasing older adult first-time admissions for illicit drugs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To see whether the percentage of older adults entering substance abuse treatment for their first time was increasing and whether there were changes in the use patterns leading to the treatment episode, particularly an increase in illicit drugs.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Treatment Episode Data Sets publicly available from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration from 1998 to 2008.
  
  
  METHODS
  Young adults age 30-54 years as a comparison group (N = 3,547,733) and those age 55 years or older (N = 258,542) with a first-time admission for a publicly funded substance abuse treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Demographic and substance use history variables at admission.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The proportion of older adults going for substance abuse treatment for the first time is increasing relative to younger adults. The pattern of drug use is also changing, with an increasing illicit drug involvement (cocaine and heroin) in older adult admissions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We know little of these long-time users, their current medical state, cognitive abilities, and psychiatric symptoms after such a long exposure time. Previous studies on heroin and cocaine exposure focused on individuals identified much earlier in life, and the aging long-term users might represent a relatively large but unknown population.
authors.affiliation: Iowa Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation, Department of Psychiatry, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA. stephan-arndt@uiowa.edu
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arndt
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Clayton
authors.forename: Susan K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Schultz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015897:Comorbidity / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000009:adverse effects; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000639:trends*; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000639:trends*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D014481:United States; D014482:United States Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration / Q000639:trends
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs