Regular Research ArticlesThe Prevalence of Mental and Physical Health Disorders Among Older Methadone Patients
Section snippets
Background
The data for this article were collected for a research project aimed at addressing the health and mental health service needs of older opioid-addicted individuals. Specifically, the study goals were to 1) document the prevalence and range of general medical and mental health disorders in a population of older methadone patients, and 2) evaluate a patient's ability to remain abstinent from illegal drug use in later-life.
Setting
Participants for this study were recruited from a free-standing methadone
RESULTS
The majority of older adult methadone clients in the study were male (64.3%, N = 92) and over half were African American (52.1%). Participants ranged in age from 50 to 67, with a mean age of 53.9 years (SD = 4.01). Nearly 17% were married and approximately 21% were widowers. Over a third of the respondents had been divorced (37.9%) or had never been married (26.4%). Over 30% lived alone; the remaining 70% lived with spouses, relatives, or friends. Less than one in five (17.9%) were currently
DISCUSSION
Our initial objective was to document the prevalence and range of health and mental health disorders in a sample of older adult methadone patients. The high rates of physical health problems and mental health disorders that were documented in the current study have expanded on previous studies by providing greater specificity on the needs of older individuals in an outpatient methadone maintenance program. This study also addresses the limited sample sizes found in many previous studies in this
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The authors thank the John A. Hartford Social Work Faculty Scholars Program, the Advanced Center for Intervention Services and Services Research for Late-Life Mood Disorders, the John A. Hartford Center for Excellence in Geriatric Psychiatry, the UPMC Endowment in Geriatric Psychiatry, and the University of Pittsburgh Central Research Development Fund.