Disparities in completion of substance abuse treatment among Asian and Pacific Islander subgroups in Los Angeles (LAC)

Research focused on substance abuse treatment utilization and outcome for Asian/Pacific Islanders (API) is scarce. Drug problems of the API community have been obscured by the stereotype of the “model minority' and the lack of available data. The limited evidence available indicates that drug use by API groups is increasing. However, there is less information about API clients in drug treatment programs. In addition, most of the available research aggregated API groups into a single category. Information on API groups needs to be disaggregated to develop more culturally appropriate and effective treatment. This study examines substance abuse patterns and disparities in treatment completion among API subgroups in LAC to increase access, and improve effectiveness of substance abuse treatment for API groups. This study analyzed a subset of multicross-sectional data (2005-2010) on API groups collected from publicly funded facilities in LAC (N = 4,341; 54% Southeast Asians, 17% East Asians, 8% Pacific Islanders, 8% Asian Indians, and 13% other Asians). Univariate analysis showed that Pacific Islanders and Southeast Asians were less likely to complete treatment and entered treatment at an older age and with lower formal education than other API groups. Methamphetamine was the primary drug problem for Southeast Asians; marijuana for Pacific Islanders; alcohol for East Asians, Asian Indians, and other Asians. Multivariate analysis showed that having mental health issues and reporting high use of drugs at intake were associated with decreased odds of completing treatment among all Asian subgroups. In contrast, age at first drug use and referral monitoring by the criminal system increased the odds of completing treatment for all members.

These findings have implications for targeting interventions for members of different API groups during their first treatment episode. Promising individual and service factors associated with treatment completion can inform the design of culturally appropriate treatment models.