Michael A. Penne

Substance abuse treatment need among older adults in 2020: the impact of the aging baby-boom cohort

BACKGROUND There is concern that as the baby boom population ages in the US, there will be a substantial increase in the number of older adults needing treatment for substance abuse problems. To address this concern, projections of future treatment need for older adults (defined as age 50 and older) were made. METHODS Using data from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, regression models including predictors of treatment need in 2000 and 2001 were developed. Treatment need was defined as having a DSM-IV alcohol or illicit drug use disorder in the past year. Regression parameters from these models were applied to the projected 2020 population to obtain estimates of the number of older adults needing treatment in 2020. RESULTS The number of older adults in need of substance abuse treatment is estimated to increase from 1.7 million in 2000 and 2001 to 4.4 million in 2020. This is due to a 50 percent increase in the number of older adults and a 70 percent increase in the rate of treatment need among older adults. CONCLUSIONS The aging baby boom cohort will place increasing demands on the substance abuse treatment system in the next two decades, requiring a shift in focus to address the special needs of an older population of substance abusers. There is also a need to develop improved tools for measuring substance use and abuse among older adults.

Substance use disorder among older adults in the United States in 2020

AIMS This study aimed to project the number of people aged 50 years or older with substance use disorder (alcohol/illicit drug dependence or abuse) in the United States in 2020. DESIGN Logistic regression models were applied to estimate parameters predicting past-year substance use disorder using the 2002-06 National Survey on Drug Use and Health data. We applied these parameters to the projected US 2020 population to estimate the number of adults aged 50 or older with substance use disorder in 2020. SETTING Non-institutionalized US residences. PARTICIPANTS Representative sample of the US civilian, non-institutionalized population. MEASUREMENTS Substance use disorder is classified based on criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition. FINDINGS Due to the large population size and high substance use rate of the baby-boom cohort, the number of adults aged 50 or older with substance use disorder is projected to double from 2.8 million (annual average) in 2002-06 to 5.7 million in 2020. Increases are projected for all examined gender, race/ethnicity and age groups. CONCLUSIONS Our estimates provide critical information for policymakers to allocate resources and develop prevention and treatment approaches to address future needs of the US older adult population with substance use disorder.

The relation between tobacco taxes and youth and young adult smoking: What happened following the 2009 U.S. federal tax increase on cigarettes?

BACKGROUND On April 1, 2009, the federal government raised cigarette taxes from

Moderation of the association between parent and adolescent cigarette smoking by selected sociodemographic variables

0.39 to

Serious Psychological Distress Among Parenting and Nonparenting Adults

1.01 per pack. This study examines the impact of this increase on a range of smoking behaviors among youth aged 12 to 17 and young adults aged 18 to 25. METHODS Data from the 2002-2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) were used to estimate the impact of the tax increase on five smoking outcomes: (1) past year smoking initiation, (2) past-month smoking, (3) past year smoking cessation, (4) number of days cigarettes were smoked during the past month, and (5) average number of cigarettes smoked per day. Each model included individual and state-level covariates and other tobacco control policies that coincided with the tax increase. We examined the impact overall and by race and gender. RESULTS The odds of smoking initiation decreased for youth after the tax increase (odds ratio (OR)=0.83, p<0.0001). The odds of past-month smoking also decreased (youth: OR=0.83, p<0.0001; young adults: OR=0.92, p<0.0001), but the odds of smoking cessation remained unchanged. Current smokers smoked on fewer days (youth: coefficient=-0.97, p=0.0001; young adults: coefficient=-0.84, p<0.0001) and smoked fewer cigarettes per day after the tax increase (youth: coefficient=-1.02, p=0.0011; young adults: coefficient=-0.92, p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS The 2009 federal cigarette tax increase was associated with a substantial reduction in smoking among youths and young adults. The impact of the tax increase varied across male, female, white and black subpopulations.

Nonmedical use of prescription stimulants in the United States

This study examines variation in the associations between cigarette smoking by mother or father and adolescent cigarette smoking by selected sociodemographic characteristics. The study data are from nationally representative samples of adolescents aged 12 to 17 living with their mothers (n=4734) and/or fathers (n=3176). Mother cigarette smoking was more strongly associated with cigarette smoking by daughters than sons. The association between father cigarette smoking and adolescent cigarette smoking did not vary by adolescent gender. The association between mother or father cigarette smoking and adolescent cigarette smoking did not vary by parents education, family structure, or adolescent age or race/ethnicity.

Unhealthy weight control behaviors and MDMA (Ecstasy) use among adolescent females.

OBJECTIVES We compared the prevalence of serious psychological distress among parenting adults with the prevalence among nonparenting adults and the sociodemographic correlates of serious psychological distress between these 2 populations. METHODS We drew data from 14240 parenting adults and 19224 nonparenting adults who responded to the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. We used logistic regression procedures in our analysis. RESULTS An estimated 8.9% of parenting adults had serious psychological distress in the prior year compared with 12.0% of nonparenting adults of similar age. In both groups, the adjusted odds of having serious psychological distress were higher among adults who were women, younger (between the ages of 18 and 44 years), low income, or receiving Medicaid. We found some differences in the correlates of serious psychological distress between parenting adults and nonparenting adults. The odds of having serious psychological distress were lower among parenting adults after we controlled for demographic characteristics. CONCLUSIONS Serious psychological distress is fairly prevalent among parenting adults, and high-risk sociodemographic groups of parenting adults should be targeted to ensure access to coordination of services.