An examination of trends in illicit drug use among adults aged 50 to 59 in the United States

ENGLISH :
Objective. This report examines the trends, patterns, and characteristics of illicit drug use among persons aged 50 to 59 in the United States. Methods. Data were analyzed from 51,474 respondents born during the 1943 to 1962 time period and 16,656 respondents aged 50 to 59 from the 2002 to 2007 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health. Multivariate logistic regression modeling was applied. Results. Increases in past year illicit drug use among persons aged 50 to 59 between 2002 and 2007 have been driven primarily by the aging of the baby boom cohort, which has a much higher lifetime illicit drug use rate than earlier cohorts, representing an increasing proportion of persons aged 50 to 59. Almost 90 percent of past year users initiated drug use before age 30, with initiation after age 50 being extremely rare. About 1 in 7 lifetime drug users used drugs in the past year at age 50 to 59. Characteristics associated with continued use of illicit drugs among this age group are male gender, unmarried status, early age of drug initiation, living in the West region, having low education and income, unemployed due to disability, using alcohol and tobacco in the past year, having past year major depressive episode, and rarely attending religious services. Conclusions. With current and anticipated future increases in the numbers and proportions of aging adults using illicit drugs, the United States faces the challenge of reducing drug use and treating drug use disorders and associated health conditions in this segment of the population. (Author' s abstract)