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The Dasis Report (Drug and Alcohol Information System)
January 9, 2004

Discharges from Short-term Residential Treatment: 2000
In Brief
  • About three fifths (61 percent) of short-term residential treatment episodes involved individuals who completed treatment, while 11 percent involved those who were transferred to further treatment


  • The short-term residential treatment completion rate was highest, at 67 percent, for episodes where alcohol was the primary substance


  • The median length of stay for completed short-term residential treatment episodes was 26 days
    •

This report examines discharge data in the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS).1 TEDS 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 11 percent (36,375) of these treatment episodes that represent clients who received short-term (30 days or fewer) residential treatment (Table 1). Clients discharged from long-term (more than 30 days) residential treatment and residential detoxification are not included in this report.3

Table 1. Discharges from Short-term Residential 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
17,182
11,515
1,917
2,162
1,078
510
Opiates
3,587
2,106
265
827
318
71
Cocaine
5,433
3,024
541
1,000
622
246
Marijuana/hashish
5,876
3,388
599
900
785
204
Stimulants
3,269
1,724
525
557
353
110
Other/unknown
988
528
133
211
72
44
Total
36,375
22,285
3,980
5,657
3,228
1,185
Source: 2000 SAMHSA Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS).


Reasons for Discharge
More than three-fifths (61 percent) of short-term residential treatment episodes involved individuals who completed treatment and another 11 percent involved those who were transferred to further treatment (Figure 1). The remaining short-term residential treatment episodes involved clients who left against professional advice (16 percent); whose treatment was terminated by the facility (9 percent); or who were discharged for other reasons (3 percent).
Figure 1. Reasons for Discharge among Short-term Residential Treatment Discharges: 2000
Figure 1. Reasons for Discharge among Short-term Residential Treatment Discharges: 2000
Source: 2000 SAMHSA Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS).


Primary Substance
Alcohol was the primary substance of abuse4 in 52 percent of the completed short-term residential treatment episodes (Figure 2), followed by marijuana (15 percent), cocaine (14 percent), opiates (9 percent), stimulants (8 percent), and other substances (2 percent).
Figure 2. Primary Substances of Short-term Residential Treatment Completers: 2000
Figure 2. Primary Substances of Short-term Residential Treatment Completers: 2000
Source: 2000 SAMHSA Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS).


Completion of Short-term Residential Treatment
 The short-term residential treatment completion rate was highest, at 67 percent, for episodes involving alcohol as the primary substance of abuse (Figure 3). For short-term residential treatment episodes with opiates as the primary substance, the completion rate was 59 percent. Short-term residential treatment completion rates for episodes where the primary substances were marijuana or cocaine were 58 percent and 55 percent, respectively. Short-term residential treatment episodes involving stimulants as the primary substance were least likely to be completed, at 53 percent.

Figure 3. Reasons for Discharge from Short-term Residential Treatment, by Primary Substance of Abuse: 2000
Figure 3. Reasons for Discharge from Short-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 short-term residential treatment episodes was 26 days, ranging from 22 days for alcohol to 28 days for marijuana (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Median Length of Stay among Short-term Residential Treatment Completers, by Primary Substance: 2000
Figure 4. Median Length of Stay among Short-term Residential Treatment Completers, by Primary Substance: 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, long-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 at:
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/dasis.htm

Access the latest TEDS public use files at:
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/SAMHDA.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.