Service use and barriers to care among heroin users: results from a national survey

Heroin use is associated with many serious consequences.While effective treatments exist, barriers to services persist. Understanding service use and barriers to treatment can structure treatment practice and target interventions for those who are most at risk.

To describe patterns and correlates of substance abuse service utilization and treatment barriers among a nationally representative sample of heroin users.

Data for this study were derived from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. This study focused on lifetime heroin users (N = 150).

Fifty-nine percent of heroin users reported receiving at least one treatment service. The most common services used were 12-step programs, detoxification, and rehabilitation. Approximately 44% reported at least one barrier to treatment. The most common were lack of motivation and beliefs that it could be managed alone. In a multivariate logistic regression, having a heroin use disorder was associated with a greater likelihood of receiving services (OR = 6.09) and experiencing a barrier (OR = 11.11) compared to those without a disorder.

High rates of service use and barriers were observed for all levels of heroin involvement. These findings underscore the importance of improving access to services for this group, even when full criteria for a drug disorder is not met. Integration of motivational approaches is also needed within the most common services used. To our knowledge, this is the first study to describe patterns and correlates of service use using a nationally representative community sample of heroin users.