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 177,511 linked admission/discharge records of discharges from short-term residential treatment in 2007. Forty-two of the 46 reporting States had discharges from this type of service [Table 5.1].

Reason for Discharge

Table 5.1 and Figure 5.1. Of the 177,511 short-term residential treatment discharges in 2007:

• 57 percent (n =101,048) completed treatment
• 17 percent (n =29,734) were transferred to further treatment
• 16 percent (n = 29,284) dropped out of treatment
• 6 percent (n = 9,988) had treatment terminated by the facility
• 4 percent (n = 7,457) 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 24 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
• 9 days among those who dropped out of treatment
• 13 days among those whose treatment was terminated by the facility
• 13 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:

• 22 percent reported cocaine as the primary substance of abuse compared to 14 percent of all discharges
• 51 percent reported daily use of the primary substance in the month before treatment entry compared to 37 percent of all discharges; 14 percent reported no substance use in the month before treatment entry compared to 29 percent of all discharges
• 62 percent reported one or more prior treatment episodes compared to 56 percent of all admissions
• 47 percent were referred to treatment by health care/community sources compared to 30 percent of all discharges; 24 percent were referred through the criminal justice system compared to 37 percent of all discharges
• 83 percent were unemployed or not in the labor force compared to 73 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.

• 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 short-term residential treatment discharges were associated with:
  • Older age—the completion/transfer rate fell from 80 percent among discharges older than 50 years to 70 percent among discharges aged 21 to 30 years and younger than 21 years
  • Less frequent use—completion/transfer rates fell from 78 percent among discharges who reported no substance use in the month before treatment entry to 72 percent among those who reported daily substance use
  • Employment—the completion/transfer rate was 81 percent among discharges who were employed compared to 73 percent among discharges who were unemployed or not in the labor force
  • Higher educational level—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
• Among other characteristics (race/ethnicity, primary substance, treatment referral source), the completion/transfer rate among short-term residential treatment discharges ranged from.
  • 71 percent among non-Hispanic Black discharges to 75 percent among non-Hispanic White discharges
  • 67 percent among discharges who reported opiates as the primary substance to 79 percent among those who reported alcohol as the primary substance
  • 70 percent of discharges those who were individually referred to treatment to 77 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 short-term residential treatment was 27 days. For all characteristics at admission, the median LOS was between 26 days and 28 days.

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