Patterns of treatment utilization and methamphetamine use during first 10 years after methamphetamine initiation

The study examined joint trajectories of methamphetamine (MA) use and substance abuse treatment utilization and identified differences among pattern groups for a sample of 348 treated for MA use. Results from group-based trajectory modeling showed that treatment utilization during the first 10 years after initiation of MA use could be categorized into three distinctive patterns: about half the MA users have a pattern of low treatment utilization; one-fourth follow a quicker-to-treatment trajectory with higher probability of treatment during the first 5 years of MA use and less treatment in the next 5 years; and one-fourth have a slower-to-treatment trajectory with more treatment during the second half of the 10-year period. Four MA use patterns were identified: consistently low use, moderate, and high use, as well as a decreasing use pattern. Periods of greater likelihood of treatment participation were associated with periods of decreasing or lower frequency of MA use.