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Older Adult Treatment Admissions: Almost Half for Alcohol

According to a recent SAMHSA report, almost half of the admissions to substance abuse treatment among people age 50 and up were specifically for alcohol abuse (48 percent of 164,000 admissions in 2003).

The report, Older Adult Alcohol Admissions: 2003, also notes that older adults in this age group admitted to substance abuse treatment solely for alcohol abuse were more likely to be first-time treatment participants than were persons admitted for other reasons.

The full report, from continued analysis of the 2003 Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), is available from SAMHSA's Office of Applied Studies at www.oas.samhsa.gov.

More information about aging, alcohol, and drugs can be found on the SAMHSA Web site at http://asyouage.samhsa.gov. For a free copy of the brochure, As You Age . . . A Guide to Aging, Medicines, and Alcohol, call 1 (800) 662-HELP (4357).

SAMHSA's home page at www.samhsa.gov (click on "Older Adults") presents the Agency's Action Plan for Older Adults for Fiscal Years 2006 and 2007.