Regular Research ArticleThe Epidemiology of Substance Use and Disorders Among Middle Aged and Elderly Community Adults: National Survey on Drug Use and Health
Section snippets
Sample
This study is based on data from the public use files of the 2005–2006 NSDUH11, 12 The annual survey provides population estimates of substance use and health status of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged 12 years or older in the United States. Target participants were selected for participation utilizing multistage area probability sampling methods. The sample included household residents; residents of shelters, rooming houses, college dormitories, migratory workers' camps, and
RESULTS
Nearly 60% of respondents used alcohol during the past year, 2.6% used marijuana, and 0.41% used cocaine (Table 2). Fifteen percent of past year drug users in this sample had used two or more drugs in the past year. Among those who used alcohol or a drug in the past year, a relatively high proportion of users had used the substance 30 or more days (e.g., 49% of marijuana users and 57% of cocaine users).
Alcohol use was more prevalent in the 50–64 age group, men, whites, the more educated, those
CONCLUSIONS
Nearly 60% of subjects used alcohol during the past year, 2.6% marijuana, and 0.41% cocaine (other use reported was very rare in this age group). Both alcohol and drug use were more frequently used in subjects age 50–64 years than in those of age 65+ years. In fact, the prevalence among the 50–64 age group far greater than the 65+ age group, suggesting perhaps that we may be now observing the trend for increased use among the baby-boom population as they age predicted by Gfroerer et al.8 We
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This work was supported by a research grant from the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health (DA019623, to L-TW) and by a contract for the Data and Statistics Center for the Clinical Trials Network of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (HSN271200522071C, to DB). The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive and the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research provided the public use data files for NSDUH, which was sponsored by Office of Applied Studies of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.