2023 NSDUH Methodology Resources

Use this summary report to properly interpret 2023 NSDUH estimates related to substance use, mental health, and treatment. The report accompanies the annual detailed tables and National Report and covers overall methodology, key definitions for measures and terms used in 2023 NSDUH reports and tables, and selected analyses of the measures to aid with interpretation.

This report is organized into four chapters:

1. Introduction.
2. Description of the survey, including information about the sample design, data collection procedures and questionnaire changes, and key aspects of data processing such as development of the analysis weights.
3. Technical details on the statistical methods and measurement, such as suppression criteria for unreliable estimates, statistical testing procedures, and issues around selected substance use and mental health measures.
4. Special topics related to prescription psychotherapeutic drugs.

Use this guide to analyze the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) for yourself. This guide provides data users with information and guidance to properly analyze the NSDUH public use files, including descriptions of the survey scope and design; guidelines for navigating the codebook and other methodological resources; and instructions for basic statistical analyses with common software.

Use this collection to provide context for estimates from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). This collection includes materials used to conduct the survey, reports on how the survey was conducted, and reports on how the data were processed. The Statistical Inference Report details how the data were analyzed for reports and tables, which may be useful for data users looking to do their own analysis.

New items are added to the collection as they become available, so resources published in a previous MRB may not yet be available for 2023. However, there are generally few changes from year to year, and a report from a previous year may have the information you are looking for.