Treatment: Receipt and Completion of Substance Abuse Care

Mental disorders and substance abuse are associated with lost productivity³⁰ and with increased health costs for physical illnesses.³¹ Because overall health care costs may be reduced by effective substance abuse and mental health treatment,^32,33 appropriate receipt and completion of treatment have both clinical and economic implications.

Receipt of needed treatment. Substance abuse requires timely treatment not only because of its health effects but also because of other adverse effects such as physical and domestic violence.

Figure 2.24. People age 12 and over who received needed treatment for illicit drug use, by gender, 2003

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Source: SAMHSA, National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2003.

Reference population: U.S. population age 12 and older who needed substance abuse treatment.

Note: "Treatment" refers to treatment at a specialty facility, such as a drug and alcohol inpatient and/or outpatient rehabilitation facility, inpatient hospital care, or a mental health center.

• Overall, only 15% of those who met criteria for needing treatment for illicit drug use actually received it (Figure 2.24).
• Gender differences in receipt of needed substance abuse treatment were not observed.

Completion of substance abuse treatment. People who complete all parts of their treatment plan are more likely to have improvement in their health status.^34,35

Figure 2.25. Discharges from substance abuse treatment facilities in which the patient completed substance abuse treatment, by gender, 2002

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Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) discharge system, 2002.

Reference population: Discharges age 12 and older from publicly funded substance abuse treatment facilities.

Notes: Completed treatment is defined as admissions that completed all parts of their treatment plan or program and does not include those transferred for further treatment. In 2002, 23 States submitted complete data on about 800,000 discharges to SAMHSA's recently established discharge component of the Treatment Episode Data Set. Analyses of the demographic characteristics, service types, and primary substance of abuse found that the admissions in these States did not differ significantly from States not reporting discharge data. The following States provided complete discharge dataCalifornia, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

• Of the 748,000 discharges from specialty substance abuse treatment in 2002, about 42% completed their program (Figure 2.25).
• An additional 9% of discharges were transferred for further treatment, 27% dropped out of treatment, 16% had treatment terminated by the facility, and 6% failed to complete treatment for other or unknown reasons.
• Females were less likely to complete treatment than males.

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