Prevention and Treatment of Problem Gambling Among Older Adults: A Scoping Review

Gambling is a socially acceptable form of recreation for older adults, but excessive gambling can lead to negative financial consequences and mental health problems. The lack of attention given to gambling problems among older adults has been highlighted in the literature for over a decade. The objectives of this review were to examine relevant literature on interventions for prevention and treatment of problem gambling (PG) among older adults and to identify research gaps. To this end, we conducted a scoping review of both quantitative and qualitative research, focusing on adult studies. Because of the lack of PG research specific to older adults, we focused our review on prevention and treatment among adult studies that covered a wide age range. Our literature search, conducted in a range of bibliographic databases, located 7,632 titles. After duplicates were eliminated, 4,268 records remained; 2,321 were excluded based on title and 1,247 remained after abstract review. Three independent assessors reviewed the full text of 700 articles and found 247 that met our inclusion/exclusion criteria. We identified a paucity of research on prevention and treatment of problem gambling specific to older adults, with the gaps in evidence even greater for prevention. We found only six studies specific to adults aged 55 years and older. Studies on older women are severely lacking. We conclude with some suggestions for future research.