Reason for Discharge

Median Length of Stay (LOS)

Characteristics at Admission

Treatment Completion

Chapter 5 presents data on the reason for discharge and median length of stay (LOS) in treatment for the 157,639 linked admission/discharge records of discharges from short-term residential treatment in 2006. Thirty-nine of the 42 reporting States had discharges from this type of service [Table 5.1].

Reason for Discharge

Table 5.1 and Figure 5.1. Of the 157,639 short-term residential treatment discharges in 2006:

• 59 percent (n = 93,348) completed treatment
• 15 percent (n = 23,819) were transferred to further treatment
• 15 percent (n = 23,777) dropped out of treatment
• 7 percent (n = 10,476) had treatment terminated by the facility
• 4 percent (n = 6,219) failed to complete treatment for other reasons
  

Median Length of Stay (LOS)

Table 2.4 and Figure 5.2. The median LOS for short-term residential treatment discharges was 22 days. By reason for discharge, the median LOS for short-term residential treatment discharges was:

• 27 days among those who completed treatment
• 21 days among those who transferred to further treatment
• 8 days among those who dropped out of treatment
• 14 days among those whose treatment was terminated by the facility
• 11 days among those who failed to complete treatment for other reasons

Characteristics at Admission

Table 2.6. Short-term residential discharges displayed some major differences from all discharges combined. Of short-term residential discharges:

• 23 percent reported cocaine as the primary substance of abuse compared to 14 percent of all discharges
• 55 percent reported daily use of the primary substance in the month before treatment entry compared to 41 percent of all discharges; 13 percent reported no substance use in the month before treatment entry compared to 26 percent of all discharges
• 50 percent were referred to treatment by health care/community sources compared to 30 percent of all discharges; 21 percent were referred through the criminal justice system compared to 35 percent of all discharges
• 84 percent were unemployed or not in the labor force compared to 74 percent of all discharges
  

Treatment Completion

Tables 5.2 and 5.3. Table 5.2 enumerates the characteristics at admission of discharges from short-term residential treatment by reason for discharge. Table 5.3 is based on Table 5.2. It presents two related proportions: a) the percent distribution of characteristics at admission among discharges completing treatment or transferring to further treatment compared to those who did not complete treatment, and b) the combined rate of completion or transfer to further treatment by characteristic at admission.

Completion/Transfer Rates and Characteristics at Admission

The overall combined treatment completion/transfer rate among short-term residential treatment discharges was 74 percent.

• The completion/transfer rates among short-term residential treatment discharges were related to age, frequency of use, employment status, and level of education:
• 81 percent of discharges over age 50 completed treatment or transferred to further treatment; the rate fell to 69 percent among discharges under age 21
• 78 percent of discharges who reported no substance use in the month before treatment entry completed treatment or transferred to further treatment; the rate fell to 73 percent among those who reported daily use
• 82 percent of discharges who were employed completed treatment or transferred to further treatment; the rate was 73 percent among discharges who were unemployed or not in the labor force
• 79 percent of discharges with more than 12 years of education completed treatment or transferred to further treatment; the rate fell to 70 percent among discharges with fewer than 12 years of education
• The completion/transfer rate was highest, among other characteristics, for short-term residential treatment discharges who reported alcohol as the primary substance, at 81 percent.
• The completion/transfer rate was lowest, among other characteristics, for short-term residential treatment discharges who reported opiates as the primary substance, at 67 percent.

Median LOS among Discharges Completing Treatment

The overall median LOS among discharges completing short-term residential treatment was 27 days. For all characteristics at admission, the median LOS fell between 25 days and 28 days.

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