Older Adults are at Greater Risk of Opioid Use Disorder in Communities with High Social Vulnerability

Author(s)/Creator(s)

Tse-Chuan Yang, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow
Seulki Kim, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Stephen A. Matthews, Penn State UniversityFollow
Carla ShoffFollow

Description/Abstract

The prevalence of opioid use disorder (OUD) among older adults has increased and imposes a heavy burden on the health care system in the United States. This brief summarizes findings from a study that used data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to examine how county characteristics contributed to the prevalence of OUD among Medicare beneficiaries age 65+ in U.S. counties in 2021. They found that the prevalence of OUD among these adults is higher in counties with more place-level social vulnerability (e.g., socioeconomic disadvantage, high housing cost burden).

Document Type

Research Brief

Keywords

Older Adults, Social Vulnerability, Opioid Use Disorder

Disciplines

Family, Life Course, and Society | Gerontology | Sociology | Substance Abuse and Addiction

Date

3-26-2024

Language

English

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Janet Wilmoth, Alyssa Kirk, and Shannon Monnat for suggested edits on a prior version of this brief.

Recommended Citation

Yang, T.C., Kim, S., Matthews, Stephen A., Shoff, C. (2024). Older Adults are at Greater Risk of Opioid Use Disorder in Communities with High Social Vulnerability. Lerner Center Population Health Research Brief Series. Research Brief #113. Accessed at: https://surface.syr.edu/lerner/248/

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.