Drug Treatment - Statistics On Admitted Patients

Admissions by Substance

Data on admissions by the primary substance of abuse provided by TEDS for 2003 are shown in Table 8.4. From a low of 1.522 million reported by TEDS in 1997, admissions grew to 1.74 million in 2003. Since 1992, the compounded annual increase was less than 1% a year, but much more dramatic increases were posted by admissions caused by different types of substances.

In 2003 alcohol abuse (either alone or in combination with a secondary substance) caused nearly half of all admissions (42.1%), down from 58.8% reported by TEDS in 1992. Total alcohol-related admissions have been declining annually, largely accounting for the relatively flat trend in total admissions. The category showing the largest growth has been stimulants. In 1992 stimulants accounted for 1.4% of all admissions, while in 2003 they accounted for 7.7%. Within the stimulant category, admissions caused by amphetamines (particularly methamphetamine) accounted for the vast majority. Methamphetamine is very addictive and is produced in the rural areas of every state.

Opiate-related admissions have been growing, and cocaine-related admissions have been declining. In 1992 opiate-caused admissions were 11.9% and cocaine-caused admissions 17.5% of the total; eleven years later their roles were nearly reversed, opiates accounting for 17.3% and cocaine for 13.4% of admissions.

Marijuana-related admissions have had the second most rapid growth (after stimulants), representing 15.3% of cases in 2003, up from 6% in as reported by TEDS in 1992. Marijuana is a relatively mild drug. Rapidly rising cases are in part explained by techniques of "lacing" marijuana cigarettes and cigars with crack cocaine and synthetic stimulants or hallucinogens, often without the user's knowledge.

The largest decline of admissions from 1992 to 2003 has been for cases involving inhalants, declining to 0.1% of all admissions in 2003, down from 0.19% in 1992.

Demographics by Substance

A close-up of admissions in 2003 is provided in Table 8.4 showing the distribution of persons admitted by major drug categories, by gender, race/ethnicity, and age at admission.

GENDER.

As noted above, total male admissions (69.2%) were higher than total female admissions (30.7%); this trend held in all but two substance categories. Males had the largest separation from females in 2003 in alcohol-only admissions (75.5% of all admissions) and in marijuana-related admissions (74.6%). Females outnumbered men in admissions caused by tranquilizers (52.7%) and sedatives (52.2%).

RACE AND ETHNICITY.

Whites were 61.9% of admissions in 2003, African-Americans 23.7%, Hispanics or Latinos (of any race) 13.2%, American Indians and Alaskan Natives 2.3%, Asians and Pacific Islanders

TABLE 8.4
Admissions to drug-alcohol treatment, by individual characteristic and drug type, 2003
SOURCE: "Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions by Primary Substance of Abuse, According to Sex, Age Group, Race, and Ethnicity," in Treatment Episode Data Sets (TEDS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, September 2004, http://wwwdasis.samhsa.gov/teds02/2002_teds_rpt.pdf (accessed March 31, 2005)

			Primary substance
		Total	Alcohol only	Alcohol with secondary drug	Cocaine (smoked)	Cocaine (other route)	Marijuana	Heroin	Other opiates	PCP	Hallucinogens	Amphetamines	Other stimulants	Tranquilizers	Sedatives	Inhalants	Other/ unknown
Total	No.	1,741,837	407,345	325,399	172,859	61,263	267,277	252,555	49,200	3,951	2,086	131,829	1,083	7,555	4,079	1,099	54,257
	%	100	23.4	18.7	9.9	3.5	15.3	14.5	2.8	0.2	0.1	7.6	0.1	0.4	0.2	0.1	3.1
Sex
Male	%	69.2	75.5	73.9	59.4	66.8	74.6	68	53.5	67.1	73.9	55.4	60.3	47.3	47.7	74.5	60.4
Female	%	30.7	24.5	26.1	40.5	33.1	25.4	32	46.4	32.8	26.1	44.6	39.7	52.7	52.2	25.4	39.5
Unknown	%	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	0.2
Total	%	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Age at admission
0-11 years	%	0.2	0	0	0	0	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.7	4.8
12-17 years	%	8.3	2.4	5.5	0.7	3.1	34.9	0.6	1.8	4	20.1	5	13.7	5	6.7	43.5	19.3
18-20 years	%	6.6	3.7	6	2.1	5.6	15.8	4.3	6.1	11.2	20.3	8.5	8.8	6.4	5.9	7	6.3
21-25 years	%	13.3	9.2	12.6	7	14.1	19.5	13.7	17.8	28.4	26.7	20.5	13.3	12.7	13.6	14.9	12.3
26-30 years	%	11.3	8.8	10.7	10.3	14.4	10.4	12.7	15.3	19.1	12.6	17.8	12.6	11.7	13.1	8.8	10.5
31-35 years	%	13.6	11.7	14.7	19.4	17.2	7.3	15.4	14.8	14.8	7.1	17.7	12.2	12.5	13.1	5.4	11
36-40 years	%	15.7	16	18.5	25	19	5.4	17.2	14.1	11	5.2	14.7	12.1	14.5	14.3	7.5	11.2
41-45 years	%	14.3	17.9	16.6	20.3	14.9	3.6	15.8	13.4	6.9	3.9	10	12.2	14.2	15.1	5.7	10.3
46-50 years	%	9	13.7	9.4	9.9	7.3	1.7	11.7	9.5	3.2	2.3	4.1	8.1	12.3	9.8	4.2	6.8
51-55 years	%	4.5	8.3	3.9	3.6	2.8	0.7	5.9	4.3	0.9	1.2	1.2	3.8	6.1	4.6	1.3	3.7
56-60 years	%	1.8	4.4	1.3	1	0.9	0.2	1.8	1.6	0.3	0.3	0.4	2.1	2.4	1.9	0.5	1.9
61-65 years	%	0.7	2.1	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.1	0.5	0.6	0.2	0	0.1	0.6	1.1	0.8	0.2	0.8
66 years and over	%	0.5	1.6	0.2	0.1	0.1	0	0.2	0.4	0	0.1	0	0.5	0.9	0.9	0.1	0.8
Unknown	%	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.3
Total	%	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Race
White	%	61.9	75.2	60.8	36.9	53.2	57.5	52.1	89.5	23.2	70.5	75	72.6	86.4	83.5	71.6	65.5
Black or African-American	%	23.7	12.7	26.1	55.4	31.1	28.5	24.6	4.7	54.9	16.3	2.7	15.6	5.4	7.5	7.2	24.3
American Indian or Alaska Native	%	2.3	3.4	2.9	0.8	1.4	2	1.2	1.6	3.2	1.9	3.3	3.1	0.9	1.6	5.6	1.7
Asian or Native Hawaiian or other
Pacific Islander	%	1.1	0.9	0.8	0.9	0.7	1.3	0.5	0.7	1.1	2.3	3.7	1.8	0.5	0.8	0.2	0.5
Other	%	10	6.5	8.7	5.3	12.5	9.7	20.8	2.9	17.4	8.1	14.4	6.4	6	6.1	13.6	3.7
Unknown	%	1.1	1.4	0.7	0.6	1.1	1.1	0.8	0.6	0.3	0.9	0.8	0.5	0.7	0.5	1.9	4.4
Total	%	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Ethnicity	%
Hispanic or Latino	%	13.2	11.5	10.7	7.3	16.4	12.9	24.5	3.4	21.9	9.1	17.3	16.2	7.5	8.4	17.4	5.7
Not Hispanic or Latino	%	83.1	85.1	86.1	89.3	79.6	83.3	72.1	91.8	69.3	87.1	80.3	80.1	89	89.2	79.3	83.8
Unknown	%	3.7	3.5	3.3	3.4	3.9	3.8	3.4	4.8	8.8	3.8	2.4	3.7	3.5	2.4	3.4	10.6
Total	%	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

1.1%, and other races 10%. Whites were highest in all but two categories. African-Americans were highest (with 55.4% of admissions) for smoked-cocaine admissions and 54.9% for PCP-related admissions. African-Americans were uniformly in second place among the racial groups in all other categories, with the exception of methamphetamine/amphetamine-related admissions; in that category, African-Americans came last among the races at 2.7%. It is important to note that the Hispanics or Latinos category is treated as an "ethnicity" rather than a race, and includes both white and black individuals of Latin American ethnicity.

AGE AT ADMISSION.

In 2003 most persons admitted for alcohol-only abuse were thirty and older whereas most of those admitted for using inhalants were under eighteen. Those treated for heroin use tended to be twenty and older, with the largest age group of users being thirty-six to forty (17.2%). Crack cocaine treatment recipients clustered in the twenty-six-to-forty-five groupings, with the highest number in the thirty-six-to-forty group (25%). Meth users receiving treatment were younger, the majority falling into the twenty-one-to-forty group, the largest using group aged twenty-one to twenty-five (20.5%). People in treatment for marijuana were in the younger age groups; those twelve to seventeen represented the largest percentage of admissions (34.9%). Those aged twelve to twenty-five made up 70.3% of all those admitted for marijuana use. According to TEDS data for 2002, those treated for hallucinogens had the lowest average age, and those admitted for alcohol use only had the highest.

Type of Treatment

In 2002, 60.6% of those admitted to treatment were admitted into ambulatory treatment facilities; of the remainder, 16.9% went into residential facilities and 22.4% went into residential type (twenty-four-hour) detoxification. (See Table 8.5.)

Among those going into drug-related detoxification, the largest percentages had been admitted for tranquilizer use (35.2%) and heroin (35.0%). Those using marijuana had the highest percentage entering ambulatory care (82.9%). The largest proportions of substance abusers assigned to residential treatment were crack smokers at 28.9%.

Referring Source

Just over one-third of all persons admitted came to get treatment at their own volition (35.1%). The largest referral source (sending 35.9% of individuals) was the criminal justice system, referring people for drug use or driving under the influence of alcohol. Much of the remaining third of all referrals came from substance abuse treatment providers and other health care agencies (10.6 and 6.8% of referrals respectively), referring individuals for specific services. Other referrals came from schools, employers, and community agencies.

Most heroin users (63.3%) and other opiate users (51.5%) sought treatment of their own accord. Justice system sources sent the majority of marijuana users (58.1%), meth users (52.6%), and PCP users (50.4%), along with a good number of hallucinogen users (44.1%) and inhalants users (33.3%), to treatment.