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Home » 2020 Topics & Objectives » Substance Abuse » SA-8.1 Data Details

SA-8.1 Data Details

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SA-8.1 Increase the proportion of persons who need illicit drug treatment and received specialty treatment for abuse or dependence in the past year

About the Data

Description of the data source, numerator, denominator, survey questions, and other relevant details about the national estimate.

Data Source: 
National Survey on Drug Use and Health
Changed Since the Healthy People 2020 Launch: 
Yes
Measure: 
percent
Baseline (Year): 
18.3 (2015)
Target: 
20.1
Target-Setting Method: 
10 percent improvement
Numerator: 

Number of persons aged 12 years and over who needed and received illicit drug treatment at a specialty facility in the past year

Denominator: 

Number of persons aged 12 years and over who needed illicit drug treatment in the past year

Comparable Healthy People 2010 Objective: 
Retained from HP2010 objective
Questions Used to Obtain the National Baseline Data: 

    From the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health:

    [NUMERATOR:]

    Have you ever received treatment or counseling for your use of alcohol or any drug, not counting cigarettes?

    1. Yes
    2. No

    During the past 12 months, that is, since [DATE], have you received treatment or counseling for your use of alcohol or any drug, not counting cigarettes?

    1. Yes
    2. No

    During the past 12 months when you received treatment, was the treatment for alcohol use only, drug use only, or both alcohol and drug use?

    1. Alcohol use only
    2. Drug use only
    3. Both alcohol and drug use

    During the past 12 months, have you received treatment for your [Problem] in a hospital overnight as an inpatient?

    1. Yes
    2. No

    Was the treatment you received in a hospital overnight as an inpatient for your alcohol use, your drug use, or both?

    1. Alcohol use
    2. Drug use
    3. Both alcohol and drug use

    During the past 12 months, have you received treatment for your [Problem] in a residential drug or alcohol rehabilitation facility where you stayed overnight?

    1. Yes
    2. No

    Was the treatment you received in a residential drug or alcohol rehabilitation facility where you stayed overnight for your alcohol use, your drug use, or both?

    1. Alcohol use
    2. Drug use
    3. Both alcohol and drug use

    During the past 12 months, have you received treatment for your [problem] in a drug or alcohol rehabilitation facility as an outpatient?

    1. Yes
    2. No

    Was the treatment you received in a drug or alcohol rehabilitation facility as an outpatient for your alcohol use, your drug use, or both?

    1. Alcohol use
    2. Drug use
    3. Both alcohol and drug use
Data Collection Frequency: 
Annual
Methodology Notes: 

    Specialty treatment is treatment received at drug or alcohol rehabilitation facilities (inpatient or outpatient), hospitals (inpatient only), or mental health centers. It excludes treatment at an emergency room, private doctor's office, self-help group, prison or jail, or as an outpatient. An individual is defined as needing treatment for a drug problem if he or she was dependent on or abused drugs or received specialty treatment for drugs in the past 12 months.

    In 2014 and 2015 changes were made to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) resulting in the need to revise the baselines and targets for 20 HP2020 objectives. In 2014, the changes to NSDUH primarily focused on revising the sample design, such as modifying the distribution of the sample across the 50 states and the District of Columbia and reducing the oversampling of youths and young adults. In 2015, SAMHSA implemented changes to the NSDUH data collection equipment, respondent materials, and survey questionnaire, including revisions to existing measures (e.g., prescription drugs, methamphetamine, hallucinogens, inhalants, and binge alcohol) and the addition of new questions (e.g., sexual orientation and attraction, disability status, and identification of active duty family members).

    The 2014 changes to the sample design are expected to result in more precise national estimates overall as well as more precise estimates for older adults. The 2015 changes are expected to improve the quality of data, and the questionnaire revisions will address SAMHSA's substance use and mental health policy and research needs.

    The following report outlines all of the changes that were made to the NSDUH in 2014 and 2015.
    http://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-RedesignChanges-201....

    A description of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) has been published by SAMHSA.

Trend Issues: 
Estimates prior to data year 2015 were removed due to a questionnaire redesign of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) beginning in data year 2015, which resulted in a break in trend. Estimates were removed for both national level, and state-level data including the category ‘all reporting states’.

Revision History

Any change to the objective text, baseline, target, target-setting method or data source since the Healthy People 2020 launch.

Description of Changes Since the Healthy People 2020 Launch: 
During regular data collection and processing checks, errors were identified in the NSDUH data. These errors affected the data for Pennsylvania (2006-2010) and Maryland (2008-2009). These errors had minimal impact on the national estimates and no effect on direct estimates for the other 48 states and the District of Columbia. Comparing estimates for Pennsylvania, Maryland, the mid-Atlantic division, and the Northeast region were of most concern. However, the baseline and target values did not change as a result. In 2015, SAMHSA implemented changes to the NSDUH data collection equipment, respondent materials, and survey questionnaire, including revisions to existing measures (e.g., prescription drugs, methamphetamine, hallucinogens, inhalants, and binge alcohol) and the addition of new questions (e.g., sexual orientation and attraction, disability status, and identification of active duty family members). The 2015 changes are expected to improve the quality of data, and the questionnaire revisions will address SAMHSA's substance use and mental health policy and research needs. As a result in 2019, the baseline was again revised from 16.0 to 18.3 percent. The target was also adjusted from 17.6 to 20.1 percent to reflect the revised baseline using the original target-setting method.

References

Additional resources about the objective

  1. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Results from the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings. Office of Applied Studies, NSDUH Series H-36, HHS Publication No. SMA 09-4434. Rockville, MD. 2009.
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