Substance abuse in the elderly is far less common than among younger adults, either because people give up their substance abuse or because substance abusers die younger, or both. The prevalence of substance abuse among people seeking health care is higher than the ten percent seen in the general population. There is a correlation between education level and substance abuse . Generally, people with more education use more alcohol and engage in more recreational drug use. People in stable marriages exhibit significantly fewer alcohol or drug abuse diagnoses than people who are single, separated or divorced or those who are cohabitating and unmarried.
Widows manifest the lowest prevalence of alcohol abuse.
A positive family history of an alcohol use disorder puts a patient at higher risk of developing an alcohol problem. It is unclear whether this is also true for illicit drug abuse disorders. Occupational histories may be significant, though some of the correlations may be more related to socioeconomic status than to jobs. Employed people drink more alcohol than those who are unemployed, but are less likely to have an alcohol use disorder. This is not a demonstrable effect for drug abuse.