Scientists have developed a new computerized screening tool that allows primary care practitioners to detect older substance-abusing adults.
Results of a study that tested the diagnostic capabilities of the Drug Abuse Problem Assessment for Primary Care (DAPA-PC) showed that older adults and younger adults had similar rates of alcohol and drug abuse. The study, which involved 266 adults aged 18–54 and 61 adults aged 55–86, also showed that older adults were less likely than younger adults to view their drug use as problematic.
Older adults were less likely to report that they felt their use of alcohol and/or drugs was excessive. When compared with younger respondents, older adults also were less likely to report that they had tried to quit, control, or reduce their drinking and/or other drug abuse during the past 6 months.
The scientists at Danya International, Inc. who developed the DAPA-PC, predict that the number of older adults who abuse alcohol and other drugs will greatly increase over the next several decades. Because virtually all of today's alcohol and drug screening devices have been developed and validated with younger adults, they say there is a need for tools to help identify older substance abusers.
Program Asks About Trauma
Users of the DAPA-PC, which was developed via a Small Business Innovation Research Grant from NIDA, first answer a brief series of questions about trauma, and then progress to a brief questionnaire about alcohol and drug use. Asking about trauma, the researchers say, is a predictive yet non-threatening way to determine a person's level of drug and alcohol use or abuse.Dr. Susanna Nemes and her colleagues published the study in the October 12, 2004 issue of The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse.
