Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Aug;61(2):246-250.
doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2021.01.042. Epub 2021 May 20.

Cannabis and Prescription Drug Use Among Older Adults With Functional Impairment

Benjamin H Han  1 , Austin Le  2 , Makaya Funk-White  3 , Joseph J Palamar  4
Affiliations

Cannabis and Prescription Drug Use Among Older Adults With Functional Impairment

Benjamin H Han et al. Am J Prev Med. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

Introduction: Psychoactive substance use may be risky for adults with functional impairments. This study investigates cannabis use and prescription opioid and tranquilizer/sedative (mis)use among adults aged ≥50 years reporting functional impairments in the U.S.

Methods: This cross-sectional analysis of adults aged ≥50 years from the 2015-2019 cohorts of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimates the prevalence of past-year medical and nonmedical cannabis use and prescription opioid and tranquilizer/sedative use and misuse according to the number of functional impairments reported. The adjusted odds of medical and nonmedical use or misuse of each substance in relation to any impairment, the number of impairments, and specific impairments were estimated using logistic regression. Analyses were conducted in December 2020.

Results: Compared with those reporting no impairments, those reporting any impairment were more likely to report the use of cannabis and the (mis)use of prescription opioids and tranquilizers/sedatives (all p<0.05). Prevalence of (mis)use increased for each drug as the number of impairments increased (all p<0.001). Having any impairment was associated with increased odds for medical cannabis use (AOR=2.28, 95% CI=1.57, 3.30) but not for nonmedical use and with increased odds for misuse of prescription opioids (AOR=1.62, 95% CI=1.38, 1.91) and tranquilizers/sedatives (AOR=1.59, 95% CI=1.20, 2.11). Impaired thinking was associated with increased odds for the use and misuse of each substance, and impaired ability to do errands was associated with increased odds for prescription opioid misuse (AOR=1.34, 95% CI=1.01, 1.78).

Conclusions: Prescription drug misuse is linked to functional impairments among adults aged ≥50 years and may pose a potential risk for this vulnerable population.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Prevalence of past-year cannabis and prescription drug medical use and nonmedical/misuse by number of functional impairments.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. U.S. Census Bureau. Disability characteristics from the 2018 American Community Survey. https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?t=Disability&tid=ACSST1Y2018.S1810. Accessed November 15, 2020.
    1. Jindai K, Nielson CM, Vorderstrasse BA, Quiñones AR. Multimorbidity and functional limitations among adults 65 or older, NHANES 2005–2012. Prev Chronic Dis. 2016;13:160174. 10.5888/pcd13.160174. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Greiner MA, Qualls LG, Iwata I, et al. Predicting nursing home placement among home- and community-based services program participants. Am J Manag Care. 2014;20(12):e535–e536. - PubMed
    1. Gaugler JE, Duval S, Anderson KA, Kane RL. Predicting nursing home admission in the U.S.: a meta-analysis. BMC Geriatr. 2007;7:13. 10.1186/1471-2318-7-13. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Han BH, Ko R, Palamar JJ. Substance use by adults with medical multimorbidity in the United States, 2015‒2016. J Gen Intern Med. 2019;34(8):1394–1396. 10.1007/s11606-019-04980-1. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types