1. Substance use disorders and disparities in hispanic and non-hispanic older adults.
- Author
-
Hernández-Agosto J, Santiago-Quiñones DI, García-Carmona LM, and Gutiérrez-Sacristán A
- Subjects
- Humans, Male, Aged, Female, Retrospective Studies, United States epidemiology, Aged, 80 and over, Comorbidity, Cohort Studies, Prevalence, Health Status Disparities, Hispanic or Latino, Substance-Related Disorders epidemiology, Substance-Related Disorders ethnology
- Abstract
Background: The global longevity revolution increased the older adult population, posing unique health and economic challenges with implications for healthcare, especially substance use disorders (SUD)., Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of United States older adults, Hispanic and non-Hispanic, who got at least one mental and/or behavioral disorder diagnosis between 2017 and 2021 at age 65 or older. SUD prevalence, prescription frequency changes over time, and comorbidities associated with each medication were compared., Results: Electronic health records for 356,133 older adults (110,236 Hispanics and 245,897 non-Hispanics) were analyzed. Notably, 79 % of Hispanics fell below the 100 % federal poverty level, compared to 60 % of non-Hispanics (P<.001). Non-Hispanics also had significantly more average encounters (P=.003) and diagnoses (P<.001). Regression analysis on alcohol-related disorders indicated that the odd ratios of being male (OR=2.93, P<.000), and having low income (OR=1.62, P<.000), increase the odds for this SUD, while being Hispanic and primarily speaking Spanish decreases the odds for all SUDs considered in this study., Conclusions: This cohort study revealed significant disparities related to social determinants of health between Hispanic and non-Hispanic older adults and emphasizes the need for continuous surveillance of older adults as with SUDs. Differences in comorbidity patterns imply distinct risk factors within each population, influenced by demographic-specific elements. Recognizing these variations is essential for tailoring culturally sensitive prevention, intervention, and treatment strategies to each population's unique needs., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Jonathan Hernandez-Agosto reports financial support was provided by the Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity (AIM-AHEAD) and the AIM-AHEAD Coordinating Center, funded by the Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health Common Fund under award number 1OT2OD032581-01. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Declaration of interest None., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF