BackgroundPrescribing benzodiazepines to older patients is controversial. Anxiety disorders and benzodiazepines have been associated with dementia, but literature is inconsistent. It is unknown if anxiety treated with a benzodiazepine, compared to anxiety disorder alone is associated with dementia risk.MethodsA retrospective cohort study (n = 72,496) was conducted using electronic health data from 2014 to 2021. Entropy balancing controlled for bias by indication and other confounding factors. Participants: Eligible patients were ≥65 years old, had clinic encounters before and after index date and were free of dementia for 2 years prior to index date. Of the 72,496 eligible patients, 85.6% were White and 59.9% were female. Mean age was 74.1 (SD ± 7.1) years. Exposure: Anxiety disorder was a composite of generalized anxiety disorder, anxiety not otherwise specified, panic disorder, and social phobia. Sustained benzodiazepine use was defined as at least two separate prescription orders in any 6‐month period. Main outcome and measures: ICD‐9 or ICD‐10 dementia diagnoses.ResultsSix percent of eligible patients had an anxiety diagnosis and 3.6% received sustained benzodiazepine prescriptions. There were 6640 (9.2%) incident dementia events. After controlling for confounders, both sustained benzodiazepine use (HR 1.28, 95% CI: 1.11–1.47) and a diagnosis of anxiety (HR 1.19, 95% CI: 1.06–1.33) were associated with incident dementia in patients aged 65–75. Anxiety disorder with sustained benzodiazepine, compared to anxiety disorder alone, was not associated with incident dementia (HR 1.18, 95% CI: 0.92–1.51) after controlling for confounding. Results were not significant when limiting the sample to those ≥75 years of age.ConclusionsBenzodiazepines and anxiety disorders are associated with increased risk for dementia. In patients with anxiety disorders, benzodiazepines were not associated with additional dementia risk. Further research is warranted to determine if benzodiazepines are associated with a reduced or increased risk for dementia compared to other anxiolytic medications in patients with anxiety disorders.

Recovery identity – the degree to which someone identifies as “in recovery” from a substance use disorder – has been shown to be associated with a host of positive health outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to test the association between recovery identity, quality of life, spiritual well-being, and relational health in a sample of individuals in remission from moderate or severe SUDs recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk crowdsourcing platform ( n = 494). Results indicated that the presence of a recovery identity was significantly associated with greater spiritual health, but not significantly associated with psychological, social, or environmental quality of life, nor with family functioning. Results have important implications for understanding paths to recovery and important correlates of health outcomes.

Social isolation and loneliness are quickly becoming global health epidemics, where older adults are experiencing greater chronic health conditions and other complications as a result of this trend. This prevalence is likely underreported, given that stigma and health disparities associated with social isolation and loneliness often prevent older adults from reporting this to family members and professionals. This study's aim is to determine the rates of older adult social isolation and social connections from a psychosocial group model called Circle of Friends (CoF). Circle of Friends is built on a model of group rehabilitation model, with the aim to alleviate and prevent loneliness in older adults. The group protocol consists of 6-8 older adults who self-identify as lonely or socially isolated, who meet 12 times over three months. A midwestern university conducted virtual CoF groups between 2020-2022 to underserved areas of a metropolitan city. Researchers used the UCLA Loneliness Scale and Lubben Social Support Scale to determine differences in rates of loneliness and social supports. 15 members participated in three virtual CoF groups, with over 50% of the sample reporting low socioeconomic living conditions. Preliminary findings show that group members reported a 3-point decrease in overall loneliness (p<.05), but no differences in frequency of social supports through friends or family. While our research group continues to collect more data on outcomes of our CoF groups, these initial results highlight the need for more community interventions and social connection resources for older adults lacking financial means for healthcare options.

Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) is a non-pharmacologic evidence-based intervention for persons living with mild to moderate dementia. This clinical intervention therapy follows a structured protocol designed to connect people with memory loss to others by providing opportunities for social engagement and group discussion of current events and a different themed activity each session. This presentation will include findings from a multi-site study of the group intervention conducted in an urban and two rural out-patient settings with community-dwelling older adults. Pre- and post-assessments captured data on cognitive function, depression, quality-of-life, and mobility. While CST is offered in over 30 countries, this is the first large-scale CST study conducted in the U.S. Implications for future practice and research will be presented.