About NSDUH

Basics

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), conducted annually by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), provides nationally representative data on the use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs; substance use disorders; mental health issues; and receipt of substance use and mental health treatment among the civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged 12 or older in the United States. NSDUH estimates allow researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and the general public to better understand and improve the nation’s behavioral health.

Substance use topics covered include lifetime, past-year, and past-month use; age at first use; substance use treatment history; perceived need for treatment; and substance use disorders. Mental health topics include major depressive episodes; suicidal ideation and attempts; general mental illness; and use of mental health care. Respondents are asked about problems resulting from the use of drugs, their perceptions of risks and about some potential risk and protective factors, such as conflict with parents or participation in drug prevention programs.

Where Does the Data Come From?

NSDUH data comes from face-to-face interviews in people’s homes and, since 2020, web-based interviews. NSDUH is representative of persons aged 12 and older in the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States and in each state and the District of Columbia. The survey covers residents of households, including those living in houses, townhouses, apartments, and condominiums; persons in non-institutional group quarters, including those in shelters, boarding houses, college dormitories, migratory work camps, and halfway houses; and civilians living on military bases.

Persons excluded from the survey include individuals experiencing homelessness who are not in shelters; active military personnel; and residents of institutional group quarters such as jails, nursing homes, mental institutions, and long-term care hospitals.

History

The survey began as the Nationwide Study of Beliefs, Information, and Experiences in 1971. From 1977 to 2001 the survey was known as the National Survey on Drug Abuse. In 2002, the survey was renamed the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).

There have been major changes over the years. For example, before 1990 the survey was only administered every 2 to 3 years and had a very small sample size compared to later iterations. The questionnaire was significantly redesigned in 1994 and a rural population supplement was added to allow separate estimates to be calculated for rural areas. Another break occurred in 1999, when the survey administration began to employ a 50-state design with an independent, multistage area probability sample for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The collection mode of the survey changed from personal interviews and self-enumerated answer sheets to computer-assisted personal interviews and audio computer-assisted self-interviews.

There was also a hard break in comparability between 2002 and previous years, when the survey’s title was officially changed, improvements were made to sampling, and respondents began to receive $30 for completing the study, which increased participation.

NSDUH underwent a partial redesign in 2015, so there are several measures that broke trends in 2015 as well. For affected measures, data from before 2015 cannot be pooled with 2015 or later. Measures that were not affected can be pooled with any years between 2002 and 2019. The SAMHSA Data Website has more information on the partial 2015 redesign and its effects on estimates.

In 2020, NSDUH began using web data collection in addition to in-person interviews in the fourth quarter. This led to a complete break in comparability with previous years, meaning that estimates from 2020 and later are no longer comparable to their 2019 and earlier counterparts. Because there was not a full year of collection in 2020, the data are also not comparable to 2021. Estimates of change or trends are valid for incomparable years, and you also cannot pool data across these years.

Also, in 2002, 2011, and 2021 the new population data from the 2000, 2010, and 2020 decennial Censuses, respectively, became available for use in the sample weighting procedures.

For historical research, data from 1979 through 2014 can also be accessed from the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan.