Differences in Risk of Substance Use Disorder between Age Groups among Adults with Lifetime Criminal Legal Involvement in the U.S.

OBJECTIVE

Many adults with a history of criminal legal involvement have a substance use disorder (SUD), however how this relationship changes with age is not well studied. We investigated the association between age and SUD among those with criminal legal involvement.

METHODS

Using data from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health, we tested the association between age group and odds of having a SUD. Multivariate logistic regression analyses controlled for socio-demographic and clinical confounders.

RESULTS

Compared with older adults, younger adults had increased odds of any substance use disorder (OR 2.2;95%CI:1.7,2.9). Middle aged adults similarly had higher odds of any substance use disorder (OR 1.7;95% CI: 1.3,2.2).

CONCLUSIONS

Among adults with lifetime criminal legal involvement, younger adults experienced significantly higher odds of various SUDs compared with older adults. However, prevalence of SUD, particularly alcohol use disorder, remained high in older adults.