One in 10 With Substance Use Disorder Report Past-Year Hospitalizations

Hospitalized patients more likely to be older and have more medical and psychiatric comorbid conditions

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, April 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — About one in 10 U.S. adults with substance use disorder (SUD) report past-year hospitalizations, according to a research letter published online April 1 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Eden Y. Bernstein, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, and colleagues described the prevalence of hospitalizations among U.S. adults with SUD. Adults were classified into non-mutually exclusive groups by presence of any SUD, individual SUD, and two or more SUDs. The proportion and number of U.S. adults who reported hospitalizations was estimated for each group.

The researchers identified 60 million U.S. adults with SUD, of whom 5.8 million (9.7 percent) reported past-year hospitalizations. The proportion of hospitalized adults ranged from 7.3 to 23.6 percent among those with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and opioid use disorder (OUD), respectively. Among adults with SUD, those with versus without past-year hospitalizations were more likely to be older and more likely to have two or more medical comorbid conditions. Hospitalized adults with AUD, cannabis use disorder, and tobacco use disorder were also more likely to have serious mental illness. Across all groups apart from AUD, hospitalized adults were less likely to be uninsured. Hospitalized adults with OUD were less likely to be non-Hispanic Black.

“Our findings highlight the potential for hospital-based SUD screening and treatment to meet the needs of this population,” the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to AstraZeneca and Dimagi.