Substance Abuse and Mental Health

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• Substance Abuse and Mental Health
• Services Administration (SAMHSA)
• Data and Challenges
• Health Data Initiative Forum III
• June 5-6, 2012
• Washington, DC

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SAMHSA Data

• Substance abuse (e.g., alcohol, marijuana)
• Prevalence of mental illness.
• Drug related emergency department visits.
• Substance abuse treatment admissions, discharges
  and facilities.
• Nationally representative.
• Free access to all data.
• No login required.

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SAMHSA Data

• National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)
• Years 1979, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1990-2010.
• Primary source of substance abuse data.
• Information on mental health, depression, and
  treatment.
• Nationally representative of the civilian,
  non-institutionalized population, age 12 or
  older.
• About 67,500 persons interviewed per year.

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SAMHSA Data

• Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN)
• Years 2007, 2008, 2009.
• 2004-2006 2010 planned for release.
• Nationally representative surveillance system
  that captures drug related emergency department
  (ED) visits.
• ED visits for all drug types (illegal,
  prescription, over-the-counter, and alcohol).

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SAMHSA Data

• National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment
  Services (N-SSATS)
• Years 1997 1998, 2000, 2002 to 2010.
• A census of substance abuse treatment facilities
  (public and private) and their characteristics.
• Provides information on the nature and extent of
  services provided.

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SAMHSA Data

• Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS)
• Years 1992 to 2009
• State administrative data reported to SAMHSA.
• Separate data file for Admissions and Discharges.
  
• Reason for discharge, drug type at admission,
  demographics, and number of prior treatments
• Geography includes state and Primary Metropolitan
  Statistical Area (PMSA)

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SAMHSA Data

• For all datasets, SAMHSA provides
• Data documentation and codebooks.
• Multiple file formats (SPSS, SAS, STATA, ASCII).
• Online analysis.
• Free downloads.

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SAMHSA Challenge I

• Young Invincibles - Summer 2012 - Prize 40,000
• Men ages 18 34 have a disproportionately high
  uninsured rate compared to other subgroups.
• Entrants will develop a comprehensive outreach
  campaign that targets single men ages 18 34 to
  educate them on the importance to health coverage
  and get them to enroll in public or private
  health insurance.

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SAMHSA Challenge II

• Stay Covered - Fall 2012 - Prize 40,000
• 38 of the Medicaid population under age 65
  experience a break in health insurance coverage
• Entrants will develop a comprehensive outreach
  campaign for persons who have experienced
  difficulty with the Medicaid enrollment or
  re-enrollment. The campaign will convey new
  system improvements being made and affirm the
  importance of health insurance coverage.

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SAMHSA Challenge III

• Suicide Prevention - Late 2012 - Prize TBD
• Suicide is a leading cause of death.
• Those admitted to emergency rooms are still at
  risk for suicide even after discharge.
• Entrants will develop a smart phone application
  that links at-risk persons, after discharge, to
  health care providers or suicide crisis and
  support organizations for follow-up help.

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Questions ?

• J. Neil Russell, Ph.D.
• SAMHSA HDI Lead
• neil.russell_at_samhsa.gov

SAMHSA Data http//www.datafiles.samhsa.gov Chal
lenges http//challenge.gov/SAMHSA
http//blog.samhsa.gov