Opioid addiction diagnoses spike 33% in 3 years which age group is hit hardest?

Though national data shows that opioid use disorder (OUD) and deaths from overdose have been trending downward since 2023, new data suggests the opioid epidemic is far from over.Between 2022 to 2025, nearly 33% more people with an addiction to opioid drugs — which include morphine, heroin, pain relievers like oxycodone, and fentanyl — have received a diagnosis of OUD from a doctor.And the age groups hit the hardest are probably not the ones you think.In fact, young adults under 30 made up the smallest share of patients.While not every person with OUD has health insurance, most people with an opioid addiction do have health coverage, which makes treatment much easier.In 2022, 449 patients per every 100,000 patients got diagnosed with OUD.

In 2025, there were 596 patients for every 100,000 — a nearly 33% increase, the FAIR Health report found.Getting that diagnosis is an important step for treatment, including helping people get medication like suboxone, methadone and naltrexone that reduce cravings and withdrawal.Most (56.1%) patients diagnosed with OUD were men.The age group with the most OUD diagnoses was 41 to 50 (28.1% of diagnoses).The 31 to 40 age group (26.4%) and 51 to 65 age group (25.8%) were close behind.Patients over 65 accounted for 10.7% of OUD diagnoses, and those aged 23 to 30 accounted for 7.2%.

Just under 2% of diagnoses were patients 22 and younger.The states with the most patients with OUD were Tennessee with 1,551 patients per 100,000, West Virginia (1,528), Mississippi (1,373), Arkansas (1,320) and Delaware (1,256).Of all insurance claims for OUD, 39% was for substance abuse service and treatment, 21% for drug screening, 14% for emergency room visits, and 8% for psychiatric and psychological services.Opioid deaths had been rising, first from prescription drugs, then from heroin, and in recent years, fentanyl.In 2023, 217 people died every day from opioid overdose.But the same year, things started changing — for the first time since...