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Alcohol Treatment: Need, Utilization, and Barriers

The NSDUH Report - -  Alcohol Treatment: Need, Utilization, and Barriers

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Highlights:

  • SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use & Health defines need for alcohol treatment as meeting criteria for alcohol dependence or abuse using criteria specified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). The criteria includes symptoms such as withdrawal, tolerance, use in dangerous situations, trouble with the law, and interference in major obligations at work, school, or home during the past year. Also included are people who received treatment in a specialty substance abuse treatment facility in the past year for their alcohol use.
  • Based on SAMHSA's 2007 National Survey on Drug Use & Health, 7.8% (19.3 million) persons aged 12 or older needed treatment for their alcohol problem in the past year.
  • The majority of those who needed alcohol treatment either did not perceive the need for treatment or did not receive it. Of those who needed alcohol treatment in the past year, 8.1% received treatment at a specialty treatment facility, 4.5% did not receive treatment but felt they needed it, and 87.4% neither received nor perceived a need for alcohol treatment.
  • Among those who did not receive alcohol treatment but felt they needed it, only 27.9% actually made an effort to get treatment in the past year.
  • Combined data from SAMHSA's 2004 to 2007 National Surveys on Drug Use & Health were used to determine reasons for not receiving alcohol treatment. The most common reasons given for not receiving alcohol treatment among those who felt the need for it were: 42% were not ready to stop using alcohol and 34.5% had cost or insurance barriers.

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This Short Report, The NSDUH Report - -  Alcohol Treatment: Need, Utilization, and Barriers, is based on SAMHSA's  National Survey on Drug Use and Health conducted by the Office of Applied Studies (OAS) in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).  SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) is the primary source of information on the prevalence, patterns, and consequences of drug and alcohol use and abuse and for selected mental health measures in the general U.S. civilian non institutionalized population, age 12 and older.   SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use & Health also provides estimates for drug use and for selected mental health measures by State.

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This page was last updated on April 9, 2009.

SAMHSA, an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, is the Federal Government's lead agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United States.

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