Substance Abuse Among Elderly Women

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Abstract
Many elderly are likely to be involved in inappropriate drug and/or alcohol use. The probable forms of the inappropriate use are more varied than with other age populations, the elderly themselves may not be the perpetrators; and identification and differential diagnosis will often be difficult. As sparse as the data on elderly drug use, misuse and abuse are, the data related to elderly women are even less complete. Nevertheless, research support is available for the following conclusions: (1) alcohol abuse and the abuse of illegal drugs are not now widespread problems for elderly women but they are likely to increasingly become problems as younger women drinkers and illicit drug users age, (2) elderly women are at risk for self- and other-perpetrated drug misuse including drug-drug and drug-alcohol interactions, and may also be at some risk for self-perpetrated abuse involving legal psychotropics, and lastly, (3) elderly women appear to be at greater risk for physician-perpetrated drug abuse involving prescription psychoactive drugs than any other age by gender group.

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