Epidemiological Profile of 60-year-old Drug Addicts at the Center for Integrated Addiction Care at Fann Hospital from 2015 to 2019

Abstract

Studies on the use of psychoactive substances among the elderly are almost non-existent and yet ageing alone could be a determinant of addiction to these substances for this category of population. Our work consists in determining the epidemiological profile of people aged 60 years and over who use psychoactive substances and who are followed up at the integrated addiction management center of the Fann University Hospital in Dakar. This was a retrospective, descriptive, and analytical cross-sectional study of people aged 60 years and older who were followed up at the integrated addiction management center during the period from March 1, 2015 to August 1, 2019. The proportion of elderly people was 6% with a male predominance (91.4%). The majority of users was urban (71.4%), lived with their families (74.3%), and had stayed abroad (65.7%). Only 0.3% of the users started using APS after the age of 60 and the majority of them had been abroad (80.4%). Heroin was the most used drug (50%), with the determinants being a stay abroad and an urban environment, whereas for cannabis it was the absence of a stay abroad and a rural environment. Dependence was severe for 91.3% of the users. Psychiatric comorbidity concerned 15% of the users, dominated by depressive and anxiety disorders, while somatic comorbidity was 42.1%, dominated by viral and metabolic diseases. Withdrawal had concerned only 7.1% of users. The prescribed treatment consisted only of methadone for (32.9%) of the users. Elderly people using psychoactive substances had started this consumption before the age of 60 years and recommendations were formulated for their protection against these substances. Key words: elderly people, psychoactive substances, addiction, integrated addiction care center, Fann Hospital in Dakar.