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The Dasis Report (Drug and Alcohol Information System)
February 20, 2004

Discharges from Long-term Residential Treatment: 2000

In Brief
  • About one-third (33 percent) of long-term residential treatment episodes involved individuals who completed treatment, while 9 percent involved those who were transferred to further treatment
  • The long-term residential treatment completion rate was highest, at 38 percent, for episodes where alcohol was the primary substance of abuse

  • The median length of stay for completed long-term residential treatment episodes was 75 days

This report examines discharge data in the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS).1The TEDS system is comprised of two major components, the Admission Data System and the Discharge Data System. Both admission and discharge data come primarily from facilities that receive some public funding.

States are asked to submit data for all discharges from substance abuse treatment. In 2000, 18 States2 submitted 347,923 records for clients discharged from treatment. Nearly all of these records (94 percent) could be linked to a TEDS admission record. These 326,750 linked admission/discharge records are referred to as treatment episodes. Of these episodes, over 99 percent (323,156) had a valid response for reason for discharge.

This report presents data on the 8 percent (26,603) of these treatment episodes that represent clients who received long-term (more than 30 days) residential treatment (Table 1). Clients discharged from short-term residential (30 days or fewer) and residential detoxification are not included in this report.3




Table 1. Discharges from Intensive Outpatient Treatment, by Reason for Discharge and Primary Substance at Admission: 2000
   
Reason for Discharge
   
Primary substance
at admission
Total

Treatment
Completed

Transferred
to Further
Treatment

Left Against
Professional
Advice

Terminated
by Facility

Other



Alcohol
10,320
3,867
903
2,907
2,204
439
Opiates
3,949
1,131
143
1,511
989
175
Cocaine
6,063
1,766
425
1,772
1,851
249
Marijuana/hashish
3,342
1,058
352
789
1,016
127
Stimulants
2,079
631
493
462
371
122
Other/unknown
850
345
66
214
164
61
Total
26,603
8,798
2,382
7,655
6,595
1,173
Source: 2000 SAMHSA Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS).



Reasons for Discharge
About one-third (33 percent) of long-term residential treatment episodes involved individuals who completed treatment and another 9 percent involved those who were transferred to further treatment (Figure 1). The remaining long-term residential treatment episodes involved clients who left against professional advice (29 percent), whose treatment was terminated by the facility (25 percent), or who were discharged for other reasons (4 percent).

Figure 1. Reasons for Discharge among Long-term Residential Treatment Discharges: 2000
Figure 1. Reasons for Discharge among Long-term Residential Treatment Discharges: 2000
Source: 2000 SAMHSA Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS).



Primary Substance
Alcohol was the primary substance of abuse4 in 44 percent of the completed long-term residential treatment episodes (Figure 2), followed by cocaine (20 percent), opiates (13 percent), marijuana (12 percent), stimulants (7 percent), and other substances (4 percent).

Figure 2. Primary Substances of Long-term Residential Treatment Completers: 2000
Figure 2. Primary Substances of Long-term Residential Treatment Completers: 2000
Source: 2000 SAMHSA Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS).
 
Completion of Long-term Residential Treatment
The long-term residential treatment completion rate was highest, at 38 percent, for episodes involving alcohol as the primary substance of abuse (Figure 3). For long-term residential treatment episodes with marijuana as the primary substance, the completion rate was 32 percent. The long-term residential treatment completion rate for episodes where the primary substance was a stimulant was 30 percent. Long-term residential treatment episodes involving opiates or cocaine as the primary substance were least likely to be completed, at 29 percent for both types of drugs.

Figure 3. Reasons for Discharge from Long-term Residential Treatment, by Primary Substance of Abuse: 2000
Figure 3. Reasons for Discharge from Long-term Residential Treatment, by Primary Substance of Abuse: 2000
Source: 2000 SAMHSA Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS).

Median Length of Stay
The median length of stay for completed long-term residential treatment episodes was 75 days, ranging from 73 days for cocaine to 91 days for opiates (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Median Length of Stay among Long-term Residential Treatment Completers, by Primary Substance: 2000
Figure 3. Reasons for Discharge from Long-term Residential Treatment, by Primary Substance of Abuse: 2000
Source: 2000 SAMHSA Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS).


End Notes
1 For an earlier report on TEDS discharges, see Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies. The DASIS report: Treatment Completion in the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS). Rockville, MD. January 30, 2003.
2 States included are CA, GA, HI, IA, IL, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MS, MT, NE, NM, OH, OK, UT, and WY.
3 Because treatment completion rates and lengths of stay vary across modalities or types of treatment, reports on other modalities, including hospital inpatient, outpatient, intensive outpatient, short-term residential, and detoxification treatment are being presented in other DASIS reports.
4 The primary substance of abuse is the main substance abused at the time of admission.
The Drug and Alcohol Services Information System (DASIS) is an integrated data system maintained by the Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). One component of DASIS is the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS). TEDS is a compilation of data on the demographic characteristics and substance abuse problems of those admitted for substance abuse treatment. The information comes primarily from facilities that receive some public funding. Information on treatment admissions is routinely collected by State administrative systems and then submitted to SAMHSA in a standard format. Approximately 1.6 million records are included in TEDS each year. TEDS records represent admissions rather than individuals, as a person may be admitted to treatment more than once.

The DASIS Report is prepared by the Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA; Synectics for Management Decisions, Inc., Arlington, Virginia; and RTI, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

Information and data for this issue are based on data reported to TEDS through April 1, 2002.

Access the latest TEDS reports and public use files at:
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/dasis.htm

Other substance abuse reports are available at:
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov
The DASIS Report is published periodically by the Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). All material appearing in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission from SAMHSA. Additional copies of this report or other reports from the Office of Applied Studies are available on-line: http://www.oas.samhsa.gov. Citation of the source is appreciated.

This page was last updated on May 16, 2008.