Chapter 3

Trends in Client Characteristics

Facility Operation
Primary Focus of Facility
Type of Care Received
Clients Receiving Methadone or Buprenorphine
Substance Abuse Problem Treated
Clients under Age 18 in Treatment

This chapter presents trends in client characteristics for 2006 to 2010.

Table 3.1. The number of clients in treatment on the survey reference date increased by 4 percent from 2006 to 2010, from 1,130,881 in 2006 to 1,175,462 in 2010.

Facility Operation

Table 3.1 and Figure 5. In almost all categories of facility operation, the proportions of clients in treatment changed very little between 2006 and 2010.

Figure 5
Clients in Treatment, by Facility Operation: 2006-2010

Stacked bar chart comparing Clients in Treatment, by Facility Operation: 2006-2010

SOURCE: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), 2006-2010.

Primary Focus of Facility

Table 3.1. In almost all categories of facility primary focus of activity, the proportions of clients in treatment changed very little from 2006 to 2010.

Type of Care Received

Table 3.2 and Figure 6. The proportions of clients in treatment for the major types of care—outpatient, residential (non-hospital), and hospital inpatient—were stable between 2006 and 2010.

Figure 6
Clients in Treatment, by Type of Care Received: 2006-2010

Mixed bar/line chart comparing Clients in Treatment, by Type of Care Received: 2006-2010

SOURCE: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), 2006-2010.

Clients Receiving Methadone or Buprenorphine

Table 3.2 and Figure 6. Clients receiving methadone or buprenorphine could be in any type of care—outpatient, residential (non-hospital), or hospital inpatient. The majority of clients received methadone in Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs), certified by SAMHSA to provide medication-assisted therapy with methadone and/or buprenorphine. However, clients could receive buprenorphine in any type of facility.8

Substance Abuse Problem Treated

Table 3.3. The proportion of clients in treatment for three broad categories of substance abuse problems—both alcohol and drug abuse, drug abuse only, and alcohol abuse only—changed very little between 2006 and 2010. Clients in treatment for both drug and alcohol abuse made up 43 to 46 percent of all clients from 2006 to 2010. Clients in treatment for drug abuse only ranged from 35 to 39 percent of all clients from 2006 through 2010. The proportion of clients treated for alcohol abuse only ranged from 18 to 19 percent between 2006 and 2010.

Clients under Age 18 in Treatment

Table 3.4. Clients under age 18 made up between 7 and 8 percent of all clients from 2006 through 2010.


7 Data for the Federal agencies specified in the survey (the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, the Indian Health Service, and other unspecified Federal agencies) are detailed in the tables.
8 Individual physicians can receive special authorization from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that allows them to prescribe buprenorphine for the treatment of opiate addiction. These physicians may prescribe buprenorphine to patients in an office setting or to patients at substance abuse treatment facilities.

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