Files with a comma separated value (*.csv) extension are in plain text. They contain characters stored in a flat, nonproprietary format and can be opened by most computer programs. Each *.csv file contains a set of tabular data, with each record delineated by a line break and each field within a record delineated by a comma. A field that contains commas as part of its content has the additional delineation of a quote mark character before and after the field's contents. When a quote mark character is part of a field's content, it is included as two consecutive ""quote mark"" characters.
Computers with Microsoft Excel installed open *.csv files in Excel by default, with the fields automatically arranged appropriately in columns. Other database programs also open *.csv files with the fields appropriately arranged.
The 149 CSV files (i.e., "P Value Table#.csv") reflect the 149 Excel tables, and they contain the table title, table notes, column headings, and data. The webpage at https://www.samhsa.gov/data/ for the 2018-2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) state p value tables includes a hyperlinked table of contents on the first sheet of the Excel file that combines all of the Excel tables, as well as a ZIP file containing all of the individual CSV files. Additionally, the ZIP file includes a text file with a list of the table numbers and titles.
The p values contained in these tables for each outcome and age group can be used to test the null hypothesis of no difference between population percentages for the following types of comparisons:
In general, to find the p value when testing any two geographic areas, navigate to the row of the area with the higher order number, then navigate to the column of the other area. For example, within any given table, by scrolling across Alabama's state row to the South's census region column, the p value found will determine whether Alabama's state population percentage and the South's census region population percentage are significantly different for a particular outcome of interest. Note that the tests included here are for a given outcome and age group.1
For example, Table 2.2 contains p values for past year marijuana use among youths aged 12 to 17. The p value for testing the null hypothesis of no difference between Hawaii and the West region population percentages for past year marijuana use among youths aged 12 to 17 is 0.008. Thus, the hypothesis of no difference (Hawaii population percentage = West region population percentage) is rejected at the 5 percent level of significance, meaning that the two prevalence rates are statistically different. Note that the Hawaii and West region estimates for youths aged 12 to 17 are 11.9 and 15.5 percent, respectively.2
To produce state, census region, and national small area estimates, the 2018-2019 NSDUH data were modeled using the method discussed in Section B.1 of the "2018-2019 NSDUH: Guide to State Tables and Summary of Small Area Estimation Methodology" document at https://www.samhsa.gov/data/. This modeling results in 1,250 Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) samples that are used here to calculate p values for testing the null hypothesis of no difference between two small area population percentages.
Let and denote the 2018-2019 population percentages of two areas (e.g., state 1 vs. state 2 or state 1 vs. national) for age group-a. The difference between and is defined in terms of the log-odds ratio, , where ln denotes the natural logarithm, as opposed to the simple difference (), because the posterior distribution of the log-odds ratio is closer to Gaussian than the posterior distribution of the simple difference.
An estimate, , of is given by the average of the 1,250 MCMC sample-based log odds ratios. Let denote the log-odds ratio for the i-th MCMC sample. That is,
.
Then , and the variance of is given by the following:
.
To calculate the p value for testing the null hypothesis of no difference, (), it is assumed that the posterior distribution of is normal with estimated and . The Bayesian p value or significance level for the null hypothesis of no difference (), is , where is a standard normal random variate, , and denotes the absolute value of . This Bayesian significance level (or p value) for the null value of , say , is defined following Rubin3 as the posterior probability for the collection of the values that are less likely or have smaller posterior density than the null (no change) value . That is,
.
With the posterior distribution of approximately normal, is given by the above expression. If the p value is less than 0.05, then it can be stated that the population percentages of two areas are statistically different from each other.
1 The outcomes in these tables focus on illicit drug use, alcohol use, tobacco use, perception of great risk of substance use, substance use disorder, needing but not receiving treatment, any mental illness, serious mental illness, mental health services, major depressive episode, and suicidal thoughts and behavior. The age groups include individuals aged 12 or older, youths aged 12 to 17, young adults aged 18 to 25, adults aged 26 or older, and adults aged 18 or older. Alcohol use is also provided for individuals aged 12 to 20 (i.e., underage individuals). Note that not all outcomes have data broken out by all age groups.
2 See Table 2 of the "2018-2019 NSDUH: Model-Based Prevalence Estimates (50 States and the District of Columbia)" at https://www.samhsa.gov/data/.
3 See the following reference: Rubin, D. B. (1987). Multiple imputation for nonresponse in surveys (Wiley Series in Probability and Mathematical Statistics: Applied Probability and Statistics). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.