Older adults in the United States have been dramatically impacted by the opioid overdose crisis. Over the past two decades, rates of opioid‐related overdose deaths and opioid use disorder have risen dramatically among Americans aged 50 and older, particularly among Americans enrolled in Medicare— the federal insurance program for Americans aged 65 or older in the United States [1, 2, 3]. In 2021, over 50,000 Medicare beneficiaries experienced a fatal or nonfatal opioid‐related overdose [3]. Further, over 12 million Medicare Part D beneficiaries received an opioid prescription in 2021 and roughly 200,000 beneficiaries received high amounts of opioids, defined as an average morphine equivalent dose of more than 120 milligrams per day for at least 3 months [3]. Notably, the COVID‐19 pandemic exacerbated the opioid overdose crisis, with deaths related to opioids exceeding 80,000 in 2021 [4].
Additionally, older adults experienced increased loneliness and social isolation during the COVID‐19 pandemic [5]. Both loneliness and social isolation are associated with negative physical and mental health outcomes among older adults including increased risk of mortality, depression, and opioid use disorder as well as reductions in cognitive function and overall quality of life [5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11].
While the COVID‐19 pandemic exacerbated the overdose crisis, few studies have examined how the pandemic impacted opioid‐related harms among older adults [11, 12]. To address this gap in the literature, this study examines changes in opioid exposures among older adults during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
Abraham AJ, Steuart SR, Harris SJ, Bethel V. Increased Opioid Exposure in Older Adults During COVID-19: An Interrupted Times Series Analysis. Health Sci Rep. 2025 Dec 2;8(12):e71607. doi: 10.1002/hsr2.71607. PMID: 41346960; PMCID: PMC12672921.
