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

Chapter 4 presents data on the reason for discharge and median length of stay (LOS) in treatment for the 179,335 linked admission/discharge records of discharges from intensive outpatient treatment in 2007. Forty-four of the 46 reporting States had discharges from this type of service [Table 4.1].

Reason for Discharge

Table 4.1 and Figure 4.1. Of the 179,335 intensive outpatient treatment discharges in 2007:

• 34 percent (n = 61,738) completed treatment
• 22 percent (n = 38,734) were transferred to further treatment
• 26 percent (n = 45,774) dropped out of treatment
• 9 percent (n = 16,268) had treatment terminated by the facility
• 9 percent (n = 16,821) failed to complete treatment for other reasons

Median Length of Stay (LOS)

Table 2.4 and Figure 4.2. The median LOS for intensive outpatient treatment discharges was 51 days. By reason for discharge, the median LOS for intensive outpatient treatment discharges was:

• 72 days among those who completed treatment
• 43 days among those who transferred to further treatment
• 39 days among those who dropped out of treatment
• 41 days among those whose treatment was terminated by the facility
• 49 days among those who failed to complete treatment for other reasons

Characteristics at Admission

Table 2.6. Intensive outpatient discharges displayed some major differences from all discharges combined. Of intensive outpatient discharges:

62 percent were male compared to 68 percent of all discharges

10 percent reported opiates as the primary substance compared to 18 percent of all discharges

41 percent reported no use of the primary substance in the month before treatment entry compared to 29 percent of all discharges; 21 percent reported daily use compared to 37 percent of all discharges

44 percent were referred to treatment through the criminal justice system compared to 37 percent of all discharges; 23 percent were individual referrals to treatment compared to 33 percent of all discharges

Treatment Completion

Tables 4.2 and 4.3. Table 4.2 enumerates the characteristics at admission of discharges from intensive outpatient treatment by reason for discharge. Table 4.3 is based on Table 4.2. 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 intensive outpatient treatment discharges was 56 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 intensive outpatient treatment discharges were associated with:
  • Older age—the completion/transfer rate fell from 61 percent among discharges older than 50 years to 55 percent among discharges aged 21 to 30 years and younger than 21 years
  • Less frequent use—completion/transfer rates fell from 62 percent of discharges who reported no substance use in the month before treatment entry to 51 percent among those who reported daily substance use
  • No prior treatment episodes—the completion/transfer rate was 58 percent among discharges with no prior treatment episodes compared to 55 percent among those with one or more prior treatment episodes
  • Employment—the completion/transfer rate was 61 percent among discharges who were employed compared to 54 percent among those who were unemployed or not in the labor force
  • Higher educational level—61 percent of discharges with more than 12 years of education completed treatment or transferred to further treatment; the rate fell to 52 percent among those with fewer than 12 years of education
• Among other characteristics (race/ethnicity, primary substance, treatment referral source), the completion/transfer rate among intensive outpatient treatment discharges ranged from.
• The completion/transfer rate was lowest, among other characteristics, for intensive outpatient treatment discharges who:
  • 49 percent among non-Hispanic Black discharges to 58 percent among non-Hispanic White discharges
  • 50 percent among discharges who reported opiates or cocaine as the primary substance to 61 percent among those who reported alcohol as the primary substance
  • 51 percent of discharges who were individually referred to treatment to 60 percent of discharges who were referred to treatment through the criminal justice system

Median LOS among Discharges Completing Treatment

The overall median LOS among discharges completing intensive outpatient treatment was 72 days. For most characteristics at admission, the median LOS was within 10 days of that number, between 63 days and 82 days.

• The median LOS was longest among discharges who reported stimulants as the primary substance (92 days) and among discharges of Hispanic origin (92 days)
• The median LOS was shortest among discharges who reported daily use of the primary substance in the month before treatment entry (56 days) and among discharges who were individual referrals to treatment (59 days)
  

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