title: Patterns of prescription opioid abuse and comorbidity in an aging treatment population.
abstract: Very little is known about the impact of age and gender on drug abuse treatment needs. To examine this, we recruited 2,573 opioid-dependent patients, aged from 18 to 75 years, entering treatment across the country from 2008 to 2010 to complete a self-administered survey examining drug use histories and the extent of comorbid psychiatric and physical disorders. Moderate to very severe pain and psychiatric disorders, including polysubstance abuse, were present in a significant fraction of 18- to 24-year-olds, but their severity grew exponentially as a function of age: 75% of those older than 45 years had debilitating pain and psychiatric problems. Women had more pain than men and much worse psychiatric issues in all age groups. Our results indicate that a "one-size-fits-all" approach to prevention, intervention, and treatment of opioid abuse that ignores the shifting needs of opioid-abusing men and women as they age is destined to fail.
authors.affiliation: Washington University Department of Psychiatry, Campus Box 8134, 660 S. Euclid Avenue, St. Louis MO 63110, USA. Cicerot@wustl.edu
authors.forename: Theodore J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Cicero
authors.forename: Hilary L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Surratt
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kurtz
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Inciardi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015897:Comorbidity; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult