Browsing by Subject "Substance Abuse Treatment Centers"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    Alcohol dependence and use of treatment services among women in the community.
    (The American journal of psychiatry, 2004-10) Wu, Li-Tzy; Ringwalt, Chris L
    OBJECTIVE:This study examined the extent and characteristics of alcohol dependence and the perceived need for and use of alcohol treatment services among women compared with men in a nonclinical sample of adults 18-64 years of age. METHOD:Data were drawn from the 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. The authors calculated rates and correlates of alcohol dependence and treatment among adult alcohol users in this sample. RESULTS:About 3% of the women in the survey met criteria for DSM-IV alcohol dependence in the previous year. About 13% of these women received alcohol treatment services in the same period. Only 8% of the women who did not receive treatment perceived a need for treatment. Younger women-those who were 18-25 years of age-were more likely to be dependent on alcohol but less likely to perceive a need for treatment or to use treatment services. Among alcohol-dependent women who received no treatment, those with a family income of 75,000 US dollars or more, those who had two or more children living with them, and those who were not dependent on psychotherapeutic medications were less likely to perceive a need for help. CONCLUSIONS:There were no significant differences between men and women in use of treatment services, location of services received, and perceived need for treatment. However, correlates of treatment service use varied somewhat by gender. These findings suggest that the goal of efforts to reduce barriers to alcohol treatment services should be to change people's attitudes toward alcohol abuse and seeking professional help.
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    Community-based HCV screening: knowledge and attitudes in a high risk urban population.
    (BMC Infect Dis, 2014-02-10) Norton, Brianna L; Voils, Corrine I; Timberlake, Sarah H; Hecker, Emily J; Goswami, Neela D; Huffman, Kim M; Landgraf, Anneka; Naggie, Susanna; Stout, Jason E
    BACKGROUND: In an attempt to curtail the rising morbidity and mortality from undiagnosed HCV (hepatitis C virus) in the United States, screening guidelines have been expanded to high-risk individuals and persons born 1945-1965. Community-based screening may be one strategy in which to reach such persons; however, the acceptance of HCV testing, when many high-risk individuals may not have access to HCV specific medications, remains unknown. METHODS: We set out to assess attitudes about HCV screening and knowledge about HCV disease at several community-based testing sites that serve high-risk populations. This assessment was paired with a brief HCV educational intervention, followed by post-education evaluation. RESULTS: Participants (n = 140) were surveyed at five sites; two homeless shelters, two drug rehabilitation centers, and a women's "drop-in" center. Personal acceptance of HCV testing was almost unanimous, and 90% of participants reported that they would still want to be tested even if they were unable to receive HCV treatment. Baseline hepatitis C knowledge was poor; however, the brief educational intervention significantly improved knowledge and increased acceptability of testing when medical access issues were explicitly stated. CONCLUSIONS: Despite inconsistencies in access to care and treatment, high-risk communities want to know their HCV status. Though baseline HCV knowledge was poor in this population, a brief on-site educational intervention improved both knowledge and acceptability of HCV testing and care. These data support the establishment of programs that utilize community-based screening, and also provide initial evidence for acceptance of the implementation of the recently expanded screening guidelines among marginalized communities.
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    Do specialty courts achieve better outcomes for children in foster care than general courts?
    (Eval Rev, 2013-02) Sloan, Frank A; Gifford, Elizabeth J; Eldred, Lindsey M; Acquah, Kofi F; Blevins, Claire E
    OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the effects of unified family and drug treatment courts (DTCs) on the resolution of cases involving foster care children and the resulting effects on school performance. METHOD: The first analytic step was to assess the impacts of presence of unified and DTCs in North Carolina counties on time children spent in foster care and the type of placement at exit from foster care. In the second step, the same data on foster care placements were merged with school records for youth in Grades 3-8 in public schools. The effect of children's time in foster care and placement outcomes on school performance as measured by math and reading tests, grade retention, and attendance was assessed using child fixed-effects regression. RESULTS: Children in counties with unified family courts experienced shorter foster care spells and higher rates of reunification with parents or primary caregivers. Shorter foster care spells translated into improved school performance measured by end-of-grade reading and math test scores. Adult DTCs were associated with lower probability of reunification with parents/primary caregivers. CONCLUSION: The shortened time in foster care implies an efficiency gain attributable to unified family courts, which translate into savings for the court system through the use of fewer resources. Children also benefit through shortened stays in temporary placements, which are related to some improved educational outcomes.
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    Influence of comorbid alcohol and psychiatric disorders on utilization of mental health services in the National Comorbidity Survey.
    (The American journal of psychiatry, 1999-08) Wu, LT; Kouzis, AC; Leaf, PJ
    OBJECTIVE: This study sought to determine how comorbidity of psychiatric and substance abuse disorders affects the likelihood of using mental health services. METHOD: The analysis was based on data on adults aged 18-54 years in the National Comorbidity Survey (N = 5,393). Users and nonusers of mental health and substance abuse services were compared in terms of their demographic characteristics, recent stressful life events, social support, parental history of psychopathology, self-medication, and symptoms of alcohol abuse/dependence. RESULTS: The prevalence of service utilization varied by diagnostic configurations. Comorbid psychiatric or alcohol disorders were stronger predictors of service utilization than a pure psychiatric or alcohol disorder. Factors predicting utilization of services differed for each disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Since comorbidity increases the use of mental health and substance abuse services, research on the relationship of psychiatric and alcohol-related disorders to service utilization needs to consider the coexistence of mental disorders. Attempts to reduce barriers to help seeking for those in need of treatment should be increased.
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    Infrequent illicit methadone use among stimulant-using patients in methadone maintenance treatment programs: a national drug abuse treatment clinical trials network study.
    (The American journal on addictions, 2008-07) Wu, Li-Tzy; Blazer, Dan G; Stitzer, Maxine L; Patkar, Ashwin A; Blaine, Jack D
    We sought to determine the prevalence, patterns, and correlates of past-month illicit methadone use and history of regular illicit use among stimulant-using methadone maintenance treatment patients. We obtained self-reported information on illicit methadone use from 383 participants recruited from six community-based methadone maintenance programs. Overall, 1.6% of participants reported illicit use in the past month, and 4.7% reported a history of regular use. Younger age and history of outpatient psychological treatment were associated with increased odds of past-month illicit use. Illicit methadone use among patients in maintenance programs is infrequent; however, a number of factors may increase risk of illicit use.
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    Substance use, dependence, and service utilization among the US uninsured nonelderly population.
    (American journal of public health, 2003-12) Wu, Li-Tzy; Kouzis, Anthony C; Schlenger, William E
    OBJECTIVES:We examined the prevalence and correlates of substance use, dependence, and service utilization among uninsured persons aged 12 to 64 years. METHODS:We drew study data from the 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. RESULTS:An estimated 80% of uninsured nonelderly persons reported being uninsured for more than 6 months in the prior year. Only 9% of these uninsured persons who were dependent on alcohol or drugs had received any substance abuse service in the past year. Non-Hispanic Whites were an estimated 3 times more likely than Blacks to receive substance abuse services. CONCLUSIONS:Compared with the privately insured, uninsured persons had increased odds of having alcohol/drug dependence and appeared to face substantial barriers to health services for substance use problems.
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    Use of substance abuse services by young uninsured american adults.
    (Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.), 2005-08) Wu, Li-Tzy; Ringwalt, Chris
    OBJECTIVES:This study examined the prevalence and correlates of substance abuse service use among uninsured young adults aged 18 to 34 years (N=24,282). METHODS:Data were drawn from the 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Logistic regression was used to identify correlates of substance abuse service use among persons who met DSM-IV criteria for dependence. RESULTS:Among uninsured young adults (N=5,067), 66 percent lacked any health care coverage for at least one year. In this uninsured group, 72 percent were past-year users of alcohol or drugs (N=2,335). Among past-year alcohol users (N=2,273), 12 percent met criteria for alcohol dependence; among past-year drug users (N=864), 21 percent met dependence criteria. Eighty-seven percent of the uninsured young adults with alcohol or drug dependence did not receive any substance abuse treatment services in the previous year. In the uninsured substance-dependent group, women, blacks, and Hispanics were less likely than men and whites to use substance abuse services. Among those with substance dependence, uninsured persons were more likely than privately insured persons to receive substance abuse services from the self-help or human service (nonmedical) sector. CONCLUSIONS:Racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in the use of substance abuse services are notable among young adults who lack health insurance.
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    Use of substance abuse treatment services by persons with mental health and substance use problems.
    (Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.), 2003-03) Wu, Li-Tzy; Ringwalt, Christopher L; Williams, Charles E
    OBJECTIVES: This study provided population estimates of mental syndromes and substance use problems and examined whether the co-occurrence of mental health and substance use problems was associated with the use of substance abuse treatment services. METHODS: Study data were drawn from the 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. RESULTS: Of the total sample of 16,661 adults, 2 percent reported using services for alcohol or drug use problems in the previous year. Among the 3,474 (17 percent) who reported at least one alcohol or drug use problem, 6 percent used substance abuse services. Only 4 percent of persons who reported substance use problems alone received any substance abuse treatment service in the previous year. Only 3 percent of persons who reported alcohol use problems alone received such services. Among persons with one or more substance use problems, the prevalence of service use was 11 percent among persons who reported one co-occurring mental syndrome and 18 percent among those who reported two or more mental syndromes. Multiple logistic regression analyses identified a number of subgroups who might have needed substance abuse services but did not receive them, including women, Asians and Pacific Islanders, college graduates, persons employed full-time, persons who abused alcohol only, and persons with substance use problems who reported no coexisting mental syndromes. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of help seeking among persons with alcohol use problems is low, which is a public health concern.
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    Using a latent variable approach to inform gender and racial/ethnic differences in cocaine dependence: a National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network study.
    (Journal of substance abuse treatment, 2010-06) Wu, Li-Tzy; Pan, Jeng-Jong; Blazer, Dan G; Tai, Betty; Stitzer, Maxine L; Woody, George E
    This study applies a latent variable approach to examine gender and racial/ethnic differences in cocaine dependence, to determine the presence of differential item functioning (DIF) or item-response bias to diagnostic questions of cocaine dependence, and to explore the effects of DIF on the predictor analysis of cocaine dependence. The analysis sample included 682 cocaine users enrolled in two national multisite studies of the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN). Participants were recruited from 14 community-based substance abuse treatment programs associated with the CTN, including 6 methadone and 8 outpatient nonmethadone programs. Factor and multiple indicators-multiple causes (MIMIC) procedures evaluated the latent continuum of cocaine dependence and its correlates. MIMIC analysis showed that men exhibited lower odds of cocaine dependence than women (regression coefficient, beta = -0.34), controlling for the effects of DIF, years of cocaine use, addiction treatment history, comorbid drug dependence diagnoses, and treatment setting. There were no racial/ethnic differences in cocaine dependence; however, DIF by race/ethnicity was noted. Within the context of multiple community-based addiction treatment settings, women were more likely than men to exhibit cocaine dependence. Addiction treatment research needs to further evaluate gender-related differences in drug dependence in treatment entry and to investigate how these differences may affect study participation, retention, and treatment response to better serve this population.