Chapter 3

Trends in Client Characteristics

Facility Operation
Primary Focus of Facility
Type of Care Received
Clients Receiving Methadone or Buprenorphine in Opioid Treatment Programs
Substance Abuse Problem Treated
Clients under Age 18 in Treatment

This chapter presents trends in client characteristics for 2005 to 2009.

Table 3.1. The number of clients in treatment on the survey reference date increased by 9 percent from 2005 to 2009, from 1,081,049 in 2005 to 1,182,077 in 2009.

Facility Operation

Table 3.1 and Figure 5. In almost all categories of facility operation, the proportions of clients in treatment changed very little between 2005 and 2009.

• Private non-profit facilities treated 55 percent of clients in each year from 2005 to 2007, but treated 53 percent in 2008 and 2009.
• Private for-profit facilities treated 28 percent of clients in 2005, increasing steadily to 32 percent in 2009. (The number of clients in private for-profit facilities increased by 24 percent, from 302,595 in 2005 to 375,256 in 2009.)
• Local government-operated facilities treated 9 percent of clients in 2005, decreasing slightly but steadily to 6 percent in 2009. (The number of clients in local government-operated facilities decreased by 21 percent, from 95,667 in 2005 to 75,126 in 2009.)
• State government-operated facilities treated 4 percent of clients in each year.
• Federal government-operated facilities treated 3 percent of clients from 2005 to 2007, but treated 5 percent in 2008, and 4 percent in 2009.⁷
• Tribal government-operated facilities treated 1 percent of clients in each year.

Primary Focus of Facility

Table 3.1. In almost all categories of facility primary focus of activity, the proportions of clients in treatment changed very little from 2005 to 2009.

• Facilities providing substance abuse treatment services treated 67 to 69 percent of clients each year during the 5-year period.
• Facilities providing a mix of substance abuse treatment and mental health services treated 24 percent of all clients in 2005, increasing slightly but steadily to 28 percent in 2009.
• Facilities providing mental health services treated 4 to 5 percent of clients.
• Facilities providing general health care treated 1 to 2 percent of clients.
• Facilities whose main focus was another activity treated less than 1 percent of clients.
  

Type of Care Received

Table 3.2 and Figure 6. The proportions of clients in treatment for the major types of care—outpatient, residential (non-hospital), and hospital inpatient—were stable between 2005 and 2009.

• Clients in outpatient treatment made up 89 to 90 percent of clients in each year.
• Clients in residential (non-hospital) treatment made up 9 to 10 percent of all clients in each year.
• Clients in hospital inpatient treatment made up 1 percent of all clients in each year.
  

Clients Receiving Methadone or Buprenorphine in Opioid Treatment Programs

Table 3.2 and Figure 6. Clients receiving methadone or buprenorphine could be in any type of care—outpatient, residential (non-hospital), or hospital inpatient. Clients could receive methadone only in Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs), certified by SAMHSA to provide medication-assisted therapy with methadone and buprenorphine. However, clients could receive buprenorphine in any facility.⁸

• The proportion of all clients receiving methadone was 22 to 24 percent between 2005 and 2009.
• The proportion of clients receiving buprenorphine was less than 1 percent in every year from 2005 to 2007, but increased to 1 percent in 2008, and to 2 percent in 2009.
  

Substance Abuse Problem Treated

Table 3.3. The proportion of clients in treatment for three broad categories of substance abuse problems—both alcohol and drug abuse, drug abuse only, and alcohol abuse only—changed very little between 2005 and 2009. Clients in treatment for both drug and alcohol abuse made up 44 to 46 percent of all clients from 2005 to 2009. Clients in treatment for drug abuse only ranged from 34 to 37 percent of all clients from 2005 through 2009. The proportion of clients treated for alcohol abuse only ranged from 18 to 19 percent between 2005 and 2009.

Clients under Age 18 in Treatment

Table 3.4. Clients under age 18 made up between 7 and 8 percent of all clients from 2005 through 2009.

• The types of care received by clients under age 18 were stable between 2005 and 2009.
  • From 87 to 88 percent of all clients under age 18 were in outpatient treatment.
  • From 11 to 12 percent of all clients under age 18 were in residential (non-hospital) treatment.
  • One percent of all clients under age 18 were in hospital inpatient treatment in each year.
• The proportion of clients under age 18 in treatment facilities with special programs or groups for adolescents ranged from 81 to 84 percent between 2005 and 2009.

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