Retention in Substance Abuse Treatment: Multivariate Analysis Using the Alcohol and Drug Services Survey (ADSS).

• Activity Number: 39
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Sunday, August 11, 2002 : 4:00 PM to 5:50 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistics in Epidemiology*
• Author(s): Lev Sverdlov*+ and Tom Brady and Hannah Kyeyune and Serge Sverdlov and Emmanuel Sikali
• Affiliation(s): Synectics for Management Decisions, Inc. and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration and Synectics for Management Decisions, Inc. and California Institute of Technology and Synectics for Management Decisions, Inc.
• Keywords: Substance Abuse ; Length of Stay ; Survival Analysis ; Alcohol Drug Services Study ; Retention ; Treatment

Abstract

Retention in treatment is a substantial correlate of clinical and social outcome of substance abuse treatment. This study was sponsored by the Office of Applied Research, U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to explore the factors affecting retention in treatment among substance abuse clients. The study used Drug Abuse Services Survey (ADSS), a nationwide survey sponsored by SAMHSA. To explore the factors affecting retention in substance abuse treatment, descriptive, inferential, and multivariate statistical analysis, including Logistic Regression and Survival Analysis, were performed using SAS, WesVar, and SUDAAN software for complex survey design. Preliminary data show that such factors as age, primary source of payment, source of referral, have substantial influence on the length of stay in treatment; that women stay longer in treatment in treatment facilities providing child care. The completion of planned treatment substantially depends on the intensity of treatment and a volume of services provided.