Reason for Discharge
Median Length of Stay (LOS)
Characteristics at Admission
Treatment Completion

Chapter 10 presents data on the reason for discharge and median length of stay (LOS) in treatment for the 12,697 linked admission/discharge records of discharges from medication-assisted opioid detoxification (i.e., detoxification with methadone or buprenorphine) in 2007. Twenty-three of the 46 reporting States had discharges for this type of service [Table 10.1]. Discharges from medication-assisted opioid detoxification included 80 percent from outpatient detoxification, 14 percent from free-standing residential detoxification, and 7 percent from hospital detoxification1 (see Chapter 2).

Reason for Discharge

Table 10.1 and Figure 10.1. Of the 12,697 medication-assisted opioid detoxification discharges in 2007:¹

• 30 percent (n = 3,746) completed treatment
• 21 percent (n = 2,615) were transferred to further treatment
• 46 percent (n = 5,803) dropped out of treatment
• 1 percent (n = 109) had treatment terminated by the facility
• 3 percent (n = 424) failed to complete treatment for other reasons

¹ Percentages do not sum to 100 percent because of rounding.

Median Length of Stay (LOS)

Table 2.4 and Figure 10.2. The median LOS for medication-assisted opioid detoxification discharges was 17 days. By reason for discharge, the median LOS for medication-assisted opioid detoxification discharges was:

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

Characteristics at Admission

Table 2.6. Medication-assisted opioid detoxification discharges displayed some major differences from all discharges combined. Of medication-assisted opioid detoxification discharges:

• 18 percent were more than 50 years old compared to 10 percent of all discharges; 4 percent were under age 21 compared to 14 percent of all discharges
• 12 percent were non-Hispanic Black compared to 22 percent of all discharges and 27 percent were Hispanic compared to 14 percent of all discharges
• 95 percent reported opiates as the primary substance of abuse compared to 18 percent of all discharges
• 85 percent reported daily use of the primary substance in the month before treatment entry compared to 37 percent of all discharges; 2 percent reported no substance use in the month before treatment entry compared to 29 percent of all discharges
• 68 percent reported one or more prior treatment episodes compared to 56 percent of all discharges
• 80 percent were individual referrals to treatment compared to 33 percent of all discharges

Treatment Completion

Tables 10.2 and 10.3. Table 10.2 enumerates the characteristics at admission of discharges from medication-assisted opioid detoxification by reason for discharge. Table 10.3 is based on Table 10.2. 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 medication-assisted opioid detoxification discharges was 50 percent.

• Among variables whose categories represented a continuum—age, frequency of use, number of prior treatment episodes, employment status, and level of education—higher completion/transfer rates among medication-assisted opioid detoxification discharges were associated with:
  • Younger age—the completion/transfer rate fell from 58 percent among discharges younger than 21 years and 55 percent among those aged 21 to 30 years to between 46 and 49 percent in the older age groups
  • Higher educational level— 56 percent of discharges with more than 12 years of education completed treatment or transferred to further treatment; the rate fell to 45 percent among discharges with fewer than 12 years of education
• Among other characteristics (race/ethnicity, primary substance, treatment referral source), the completion/transfer rate among medication-assisted opioid detoxification discharges ranged from:
  • 40 percent among discharges of Hispanic origin to 57 percent among non-Hispanic White discharges
  • 48 percent among the 91 percent of discharges who reported opiates as the primary substance to 87 percent among the 5 percent who reported alcohol
  • 46 percent of discharges who were individually referred to treatment to 67 percent of discharges who were referred to treatment by a health care or community provider

Median LOS among Discharges Completing Treatment

The overall median LOS among discharges completing medication-assisted opioid detoxification was 21 days. For most characteristics at admission, the median LOS was within 11 days of that number, between 14 days and 30 days.

• The median LOS was longest (30 days) among non-Hispanic Black discharges
• The median LOS was shortest (3 days to 8 days) among the small proportions of discharges who reported any substance other than opiates as the primary substance. Apart from these few discharges, it was shortest (9 days) among discharges under 21 years of age.

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