How the states stack up: disparities in substance abuse outpatient treatment completion rates for minorities

This study was an exploratory investigation of state-level minority disparities in successfully completing outpatient treatment, a major objective for attending substance abuse treatment and a known process outcome measure.

This was a retrospective analysis of state discharge and admission data from the 2006 to 2008 Treatment Episode Datasets-Discharge (TEDS-D). Data were included representing all discharges from outpatient substance abuse treatment centers across the United States. All first treatment episode clients with admission/discharge records meeting inclusion criteria who could be classified as White, Latino, or Black/African American were used (n=940,058).

States demonstrated racial and ethnic disparities in their crude and adjusted completion rates, which also varied considerably among the states. Minorities typically showed a disadvantage. A few states showed significantly higher completion rates for Blacks or Latinos.

Realistically, a variety of factors likely cause the state race/ethnic differences in successful completion rates. States should investigate their delivery systems to reduce completion disparities.