248440 Identifying trends in outpatient substance abuse treatment for crack use/abuse: Revisiting the National Drug Abuse Treatment System Survey Study (NDATSS)

Monday, October 31, 2011: 1:35 PM

Mimi Misung Kim, PhD , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, Chapel Hill, NC
Daniel L. Howard, PhD , The Robert Wood Johnson Center for Health Policy, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN
Paul Godley, MD, PhD , Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Research objectives Since the late 1980s, research examining this particular abuse has become more complex as both nationally and globally crack use/abuse has often been framed as an African American. problem in part resulting from the high volume of African Americans seeking treatment for illnesses resultant from their crack-cocaine use and an increasing crack-cocaine overdose rate. This paper explores specific factors to define the social, cultural, and economic realities of crack use in a sample of outpatient substance abuse treatment units.

Study Design Analyses for this study sought to investigate the relationship between a unit's reported percentage of crack use and several domains of covariates for outpatient substance abuse treatment units over a decade (1995-2005). The unit of analysis was an outpatient substance abuse treatment unit, which is defined as a physical facility with resources dedicated primarily to treating individuals with substance abuse problems (including alcohol and other drugs) on an ambulatory (non-residential) basis.

Principal Findings The multivariable results suggest that units with a majority of African American clients, conducting group therapy, a majority of unemployed clients, and the majority of clients reporting multiple drugs use are more likely to have a higher (above mean) level of crack use.

Conclusions The findings here suggest that the trends in crack use are highly associated with the economic climate. Therefore, identifying a level of predictability in crack use can help policy makers and treatment providers to act more preventively and reduce the racial disparity historically characteristic in crack use.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
-Identify current trends in crack/cocaine abuse -Describe the foundations for disparities in crack/cocaine abuse -Define ways in which disparities in crack/cocaine abuse may be reduced

Keywords: Substance Abuse, Health Disparities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: because i conduct disparities research focused on the therapeutic area of substance abuse,
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Health Disparities
See more of: Epidemiology