Race, Ethnicity, and Language Disparities in Alcohol and Drug Screening and Medication Treatment

Unhealthy alcohol and drug use have significant health-related sequelae. Given racial and ethnic disparities in complications of substance use, successful screening and medication prescribing for addictions are important in community health settings serving diverse populations.

To evaluate alcohol and drug use screening and prescribing of medications for addiction treatment in adults by race, ethnicity, and language preference.

This cohort study included US adults seen between 2012 and 2020 in a multistate electronic health record (EHR) network (1394 primary care clinics). Analyses were completed October 2024.

Race and ethnicity with language preference groups: non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, Latino with Spanish language preferred, and Latino with English language preferred.

Multivariable logistic regression estimated covariate-adjusted odds ratios (aOR) of receipt of alcohol and drug screening and EHR-documented prescription of medication for alcohol (AUD) or opioid use disorders (OUD).

There were 2 191 945 patients across 25 states (mean (SD) age, 41.3 [15.2] years; 1 236 818 female [56.4%]); 416 607 identified as non-Hispanic Black (19.0%), 1 015 066 non-Hispanic White (46.3%), 474 389 Latino with Spanish-language preference (21.6%), and 285 883 Latino with English-language preference (13.0%). Over the study period, 869 609 (39.7%) had documented completed alcohol screening, and 862 263 (39.3%) completed drug screening-113 629 (5.2%) had a diagnosis of AUD and 247 530 (11.3%) had an OUD diagnosis. Spanish-preferring Latino patients had 59% increased odds of screening compared with non-Hispanic White patients (aOR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.31-1.93). All minoritized race and ethnicity with language preference groups had lower odds of prescribed medications for addictions treatment compared with non-Hispanic White patients; non-Hispanic Black patients had the lowest odds of any group (AUD: aOR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.43-0.69; OUD: aOR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.31-0.46).

In this cohort study, there was an overall low likelihood of completed screening for alcohol and drug use among all minoritized race and ethnicity with language preference groups. All minoritized groups had lower odds of receipt of medications for addiction treatment compared with the non-Hispanic White group. Improving screening and addressing this emerging treatment inequity should be prioritized.