Results from the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health:
Detailed Tables

Introduction

The Results from the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Detailed Tables is a collection of tables presenting national estimates from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). These tables present combined information for youths aged 12 to 17 and adults aged 18 or older on drug, alcohol, and tobacco use (including nicotine vaping), as well as substance use disorder (SUD), risk and availability of substance use, treatment, and health topics. Specific to youths, these tables present separate information on youth experiences, mental health treatment, suicidality, major depressive episode (MDE), treatment for depression, and co‑occurrence of MDE with substance use or with SUDs. Specific to adults, these tables present separate information on any mental illness (AMI), serious mental illness (SMI), mental health treatment, suicidality, MDE, treatment for depression, serious psychological distress (SPD), and co-occurrence of mental disorders with substance use or with SUDs. Estimates are presented by a variety of demographic, geographic, and other variables. The tables include prevalence rates of the behaviors, numbers of people engaging in these behaviors, and other statistics.

The reference tools section summarizes the tools provided to help navigate the detailed tables and to define the topics presented within them. These tools include the Table of Contents, Key to Select Variables, Glossary, List of Table Titles, and a search feature. The Key to Select Variables lists key topics used in the detailed tables and provides the specific categories displayed for each topic in the tables. A glossary of topics and terms used in these detailed tables can be found in Appendix A. Where relevant, the Glossary provides cross-references between terms and specific question wording for clarity. In addition to these tools, several NSDUH reports include more details on the topics presented in the detailed tables. The 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH): Methodological Summary and Definitions report offers information on key definitions and shares the same glossary that appears with these detailed tables; moreover, this report provides further analytic details on the survey topics, design, and methodology.¹ Additionally, Results from the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: A Companion Infographic provides a visual representation of selected estimates among people aged 12 or older,² and the Key Substance Use and Mental Health Indicators in the United States: Results from the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health report focuses on presenting data among people aged 12 or older.³ The 2022 Highlighted Population Slides are a forthcoming set of slides that will explore data among particular populations and will be available at https://www.samhsa.gov/data/release/2022-national-survey-drug-use-and-health-nsduh-releases.

Survey Background

NSDUH is an annual multimode survey sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NSDUH covers residents of households and people in noninstitutional group settings (e.g., shelters, boarding houses, college dormitories, migratory workers’ camps, halfway houses). The survey excludes people with no fixed address (e.g., people who are homeless and not in shelters), military personnel on active duty, and residents of institutional group settings, such as jails, nursing homes, mental health institutions, and long-term care hospitals. For more information on the survey design, including details on differences in data collection procedures by mode, and the percentages of interviews that were completed via the web or in person by quarter, see the 2022 Methodological Summary and Definitions report.

Analysis Weights

NSDUH person-level weights are calibrated to population estimates for the state and demographic domains provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. Starting with the 2021 NSDUH, population estimates based on the 2020 decennial census were used in developing the person-level analysis weights.

As discussed in the 2022 Methodological Summary and Definitions report, the use of multimode data collection starting in 2021 increased nonresponse rates due to web respondents discontinuing the survey prior to completion (i.e., breaking off). To reduce the potential bias that would arise from handling missing data due to break-offs the same way that other missing data (i.e., responses of “don’t know” or “refused”) were handled in analyses (i.e., excluding missing data or zero-fill method), break-off analysis weights were created. These break-off analysis weights were used for a subset of unimputed measures that were derived from questions asked later in the survey.

Analyses conducted for the 2021 NSDUH indicated that key substance use and mental health estimates differed between data collection modes (i.e., web or in person); these differences are known as “mode effects.” Specifically, web respondents tended to be less likely than in-person respondents to report most substance use or mental health issues. Weighting reduced the mode effects somewhat but not enough to eliminate statistically significant differences.

As long as the proportion of interviews completed via these two different modes is stable across years, then mode effects would have little effect on differences in estimates over time. However, the proportions of interviews completed via the web or in person had not stabilized in 2021 and 2022. Specifically, more than half of interviews in 2021 (54.6 percent) were completed via the web, but less than half in 2022 (42.4 percent) were completed via the web. Moreover, less than 40 percent of interviews in Quarter 2 (April to June) and Quarter 4 (October to December) of 2022 were completed via the web. Consequently, mode effects could distort differences in estimates between 2021 to 2022, unless the analysis weights are adjusted to take these different mode proportions into account.

The analysis weights used for tables for the 2021 NSDUH included two-way interactions of quarter with other demographic characteristics in the adjustment models as a means of partially accounting for quarterly variations in interview mode proportions. However, including these interaction terms did not adjust the proportions of interviews that were completed via the web or in person to a set of fixed proportions. Without further adjustment to the weights, apparent increases in estimates between 2021 and 2022 could be due to a greater proportion of in-person interviews in 2022 rather than real changes in the population. Stated another way, apparent increases in estimates for 2022 could be partially due to the greater proportion of in person respondents in 2022, and not just to true changes in prevalence in the population. Similarly, decreases in prevalence may be partially obscured by the changes in proportions.

For this reason, the 2022 Detailed Tables include revised estimates for 2021 that were created using the updated person-level weights. These updated weights for 2021 were adjusted so that 2021 and 2022 estimates were based on consistent annual mode proportions for comparison. Consequently, NSDUH estimates for 2021 that are presented in the 2022 Detailed Tables may differ from the previously published estimates in national reports and tables for the 2021 NSDUH. For more information on the creation of the revised weights, investigations to update the 2021 weights, and the effects of the recalibrated 2021 weights on the 2021 estimates, see the 2022 Methodological Summary and Definitions report.

Changes and Impact

NSDUH has undergone changes over the years to improve the quality of its data and to address the changing needs of policymakers and researchers with regard to substance use and mental health issues. Information pertaining to some of the major changes for the 2022 NSDUH are summarized below. For more information on the revisions summarized below as well as imputed measures, see the 2022 Methodological Summary and Definitions report.

Nicotine Vaping

Starting with the 2022 NSDUH, questions on vaping of nicotine were included in the nicotine section of the questionnaire instead of in the later emerging issues section. These changes affected the comparability of estimates of nicotine vaping between 2021 and 2022. Therefore, estimates for nicotine vaping in 2021 are not shown in the 2022 NSDUH data products.

Substance Use Treatment and Mental Health Treatment

Both the substance use treatment and mental health treatment questions underwent considerable revisions for the 2022 NSDUH. Additionally, some treatment outcomes were imputed starting with the 2022 NSDUH. Due to these changes, estimates based on these outcomes should not be compared with estimates from 2021. Substance use treatment and mental health treatment estimates from 2021 are marked as not available or not comparable due to methodological changes (“--”) in the 2022 Detailed Tables.

Marijuana Use

The 2021 NSDUH questionnaire included new questions to assess the use of vaping devices to vape marijuana. Questions about marijuana vaping appeared in the emerging issues section of the questionnaire, after respondents had answered questions about any marijuana use. Consequently, some respondents reported that they last vaped marijuana more recently than when they reported last using any marijuana. As part of the procedures for logically editing 2021 NSDUH data, respondents who reported that they vaped marijuana more recently than they previously reported using marijuana were inferred to be more recent users of any marijuana.

The marijuana section of the 2022 NSDUH questionnaire included new questions to assess the variety of ways that people consume marijuana, including vaping. The questions about marijuana vaping remained in the emerging issues section of the 2022 questionnaire. However, data for marijuana vaping from the emerging issues section were not used in creating the 2022 marijuana use and marijuana vaping estimates in the 2022 Detailed Tables.

Table Presentation

The 2022 Detailed Tables present estimates from the 2021 and 2022 NSDUHs. The following sections provide information on how the tables are organized, the types and purpose of tables that are available, information about specific indicators used for the tables, information on missingness, information on the impact of rounding on estimates presented in the tables, and how totals are to be interpreted within the tables.

Table Numbering

The detailed tables are numbered using a three-part numbering scheme (e.g., 1.15A). The first part of the table number (1.15A) is the subject matter section to which a particular table belongs. The second part (1.15A) is the number of the table within a particular section. The third part (1.15A) is a table type indicator, an alphabetic letter appended to the table number. Each table number, as explained below, has multiple table types. Tables are numbered sequentially within each subject matter section. Identical tables across years may not be assigned the same table number each year.

The 10 subject matter sections and the number of tables per section in 2022 are as follows:

Section 1: Illicit Drug Use/Misuse Tables – 1.1 to 1.134

Section 2: Tobacco Product Use, Nicotine Vaping, and Alcohol Use Tables – 2.1 to 2.47

Section 3: Risk and Protective Factor Tables – 3.1 to 3.18

Section 4: Incidence Tables – 4.1 to 4.11

Section 5: Substance Use Disorder and Treatment Tables – 5.1 to 5.36

Section 6: Adult Mental Health Tables – 6.1 to 6.87

Section 7: Youth Mental Health Tables – 7.1 to 7.39

Section 8: Miscellaneous Tables – 8.1 to 8.44

Section 9: Sample Size and Population Tables – 9.1 to 9.8

Section 10: Perceived Effects of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Tables – 10.1 to 10.17

Table Types and Purpose

The table type indicators are primarily defined as follows:

Table Indicators

Each 2022 detailed table, including those for all of the above table types, contains the following definitional footnote, regardless of whether any or all of the indicators were used in the table:

* = low precision; -- = not available or not comparable due to methodological changes;
da = does not apply; nr = not reported due to measurement issues.

The “* = low precision” portion of the footnote indicates an estimate is being suppressed (i.e., not shown) due to low precision. For more information on how low precision is defined, see Section 3.2.2 of the 2022 Methodological Summary and Definitions report.

The “-- = not available or not comparable due to methodological changes” portion of the footnote indicates that for the given year, either the questions used to produce the estimates were not available or the measures exist for prior years but are no longer comparable with the current year estimate. For example, information about past year use of pipe tobacco is not collected. Thus, estimates for past year pipe tobacco use are shown with the “--” notation.

The “da = does not apply” portion of the footnote indicates that the question or estimate does not apply to a certain group. For example, in the incidence tables that show numbers in thousands and percentages in the same table, the p values for the numbers in thousands are replaced with “da” because the detailed tables show only p values of tests of differences of percentages.

The “nr = not reported due to measurement issues” portion of the footnote indicates that the estimate could be calculated based on available data but is not calculated due to potential measurement issues. For example, lifetime use of prescription pain relievers is shown as “nr” because the questionnaire was changed to focus on past year misuse of pain relievers rather than lifetime use of pain relievers, and there appears to be an underestimate of lifetime pain reliever use compared with prior years.

Rounding

Prevalence estimates in percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent, and total estimates are rounded to the nearest thousand. Due to this rounding, prevalence estimates of 0.0 percent and total estimates of 0 are displayed in the tables. These estimates are rounded down from a percentage of < 0.05 percent or < 500, respectively, and do not represent an absence of people displaying a particular characteristic. Nonrounded estimates of zero are suppressed. For confidentiality protection, survey sample sizes greater than 100 were rounded to the nearest 10, and sample sizes less than 100 were not reported (i.e., are shown as “<100” in tables) in all Section 9 detailed tables.

Definitions of Totals

Totals are defined in different ways within the detailed tables. Totals can refer to the estimated number of people with a specific characteristic, as shown in table type A and displayed in numbers of thousands. For example, in Table 2.1, the total estimated population of youths aged 12 to 17 who used cigarettes in the past year in 2022 was approximately 886,000 and was shown as 886. Totals can also be presented in the table rows or columns, either as a total of a subgroup category or listed as the “Total Population.” If the estimate is a total of a subgroup category (e.g., total of gender), the estimate is the total number of both males and females combined. Instances where measures have missing data may cause the subcategories to not add up to a total and are noted in the tables. If the estimate is shown as the “Total Population” on the row, then that estimate is usually included as a reference. This total population estimate is normally the number being used in the denominator to allow users to easily see that estimate without having to switch tables. For example, in Table 6.17, the total population row for table type A shows the estimated number of people who fit the criteria in the columns, which are the column denominators (i.e., there was an estimated 59,286,00 adults with past year any mental illness for 2022), and this number is used as the denominator in all the substance use disorder severity estimates.

Reference Tools

Key to Select Variables