Trends in first-time treatment admissions for older adults with alcohol use disorder: Availability of medical and specialty clinical services in hospital, residential, and outpatient facilities

Abstract

Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a growing problem among older adults. The aim of this study was to quantify trends in first-time treatment admissions for older adults with AUD in the U.S., and examine the medical and specialty clinical services offered by treatment facility type.

Methods: Patient level data were collected from the Treatment Episode Data Set for Admissions between 2004-2017. Joinpoint regression was used to identify unique trends in first-time treatment admissions for older adults with AUD. Provider level data were collected from the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS) for the most recent year, 2017. N-SSATS data were grouped by facility type (inpatient/hospital, residential, and outpatient treatment) to examine differences in medications and clinical services.

Results: Among all persons seeking first-time treatment for AUD with alcohol as their primary drug of choice (n = 3,606,948), there was a significant increase in the proportion of older adults seeking treatment from 2004 to 2017 (p-trend<0.001), with an average annual percent change of 6.8% (95% confidence intervals: 6.2%-7.4%). The majority of older adults with AUD sought treatment in outpatient and residential facilities, which compared to hospital-based facilities had lower odds of offering supervised detoxification, acamprosate, naltrexone, psychiatric medications, or mental health services (all p-values<0.001). Fewer than 25% of hospital-based and 20% of residential or outpatient facilities offered specialty services for older adults.

Conclusions: U.S. substance abuse treatment providers are not compensating for the changing nature of admissions by older adults, and are not providing state of the art services for this population.

Keywords: Acamprosate; Alcohol use disorder; Mental health; Naltrexone; Older adults; Treatment.