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

Chapter 7 presents data on the reason for discharge and median length of stay (LOS) in treatment for the 5,982 linked admission/discharge records of discharges from hospital residential treatment in 2007. Sixteen of the 46 reporting States had discharges from this type of service [Table 7.1].

Reason for Discharge

Table 7.1 and Figure 7.1. Of the 5,982 hospital residential treatment discharges in 2007:¹

• 49 percent (n = 2,960) completed treatment
• 28 percent (n = 1,677) were transferred to further treatment
• 16 percent (n = 962) dropped out of treatment
• 2 percent (n = 132) had treatment terminated by the facility
• 4 percent (n = 251) failed to complete treatment for other reasons

Median Length of Stay (LOS)

Table 2.4 and Figure 7.2. The median LOS for hospital residential treatment discharges was 8 days. By reason for discharge, the median LOS for hospital residential treatment discharges was:

• 18 days among those who completed treatment
• 5 days among those who transferred to further treatment
• 4 days among those who dropped out of treatment
• 15 days among those whose treatment was terminated by the facility
• 10 days among those who failed to complete treatment for other reasons
  

Characteristics at Admission

Table 2.6. Hospital residential discharges displayed some major differences from all discharges combined. Of hospital residential discharges:

• 74 percent were non-Hispanic White compared to 59 percent of all discharges; 13 percent were non-Hispanic Black compared to 22 percent of all discharges; and 6 percent were Hispanic compared to 14 percent of all discharges
• 50 percent reported alcohol as their primary substance compared to 40 percent of all discharges and 8 percent reported marijuana compared to 16 percent of all discharges
• 64 percent reported daily use of the primary substance in the month before treatment entry compared to 37 percent of all discharges; 9 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 discharges
• 42 percent were referred to treatment by a health care or community provider compared to 30 percent of all discharges; 40 percent were individual referrals to treatment compared to 33 percent of all discharges; 17 percent were referred to treatment through the criminal justice system compared to 37 percent of all discharges
• 79 percent were unemployed or not in the labor force compared to 73 percent of all discharges
• 29 percent had less than a high school education compared to 38 percent of all discharges

Treatment Completion

Tables 7.2 and 7.3. Table 7.2 enumerates the characteristics at admission of discharges from hospital residential treatment by reason for discharge. Table 7.3 is based on Table 7.2. 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 hospital residential treatment discharges was 78 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 hospital residential treatment discharges were associated with:
  • Older age—the completion/transfer rate fell from 81 percent among discharges older than 50 years to 71 percent among discharges younger than 21 years
  • More frequent use—completion/transfer rates fell from 80 percent among discharges who reported daily substance use in the month before treatment entry to 72 percent among those who reported no substance use
  • Employment—the completion/transfer rate was 80 percent among discharges who were employed compared to 77 percent among discharges who were unemployed or not in the labor force
• Among other characteristics (race/ethnicity, primary substance, treatment referral source), the completion/transfer rate among hospital residential treatment discharges ranged from:
  • 70 percent among discharges whose race/ethnicity was unspecified to 88 percent discharges of Hispanic origin
  • 69 percent among discharges who reported marijuana as the primary substance to 81 percent among those who reported opiates or an unspecified substance
  • 75 percent of discharges who were referred to treatment by a health care or community provider to 84 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 hospital residential treatment was 18 days. For most characteristics at admission, the median LOS was within 4 days of that number, between 14 days and 21 days.

• The median LOS was longest (31 days) among discharges who reported cocaine as the primary substance
• The median LOS was shortest among Hispanic discharges (7 days)
  

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