Substance Use Screening, Brief Intervention, and Treatment Among People With Disabilities, National Survey of Drug...

People with disabilities report disproportionately high substance use. Screening, brief intervention, and receiving treatment are recommended to reduce harm. This study describes disability-related disparities in receiving screening, brief intervention, and treatment for tobacco, alcohol, and drugs.

The 2021-2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health was used to estimate the prevalence of screening, brief intervention, and receiving treatment for tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use among people with any disability and within 6 disability domains (cognitive, communication, hearing, mobility, self-care, vision). Disability was identified in those self-reporting a lot of difficulty or cannot do at all for the disability question in a particular domain. Screening was assessed among the full sample, whereas brief intervention and treatment were limited to those with current use and an identified substance use disorder. Logistic regression models examined the associations between the outcomes and disability, adjusting for sociodemographic, healthcare utilization, and substance use variables.

Adults with any disability had increased odds of receiving brief interventions for tobacco (AOR=1.21; 95% CI=1.01, 1.44) and drugs (AOR=1.25; 95% CI=1.06, 1.48) compared with those without disabilities. Adults with communication disabilities had lower odds of receiving tobacco (AOR=0.77; 95% CI=0.60, 0.98) and alcohol (AOR=0.73; 95% CI=0.57, 0.93) screening than those without the respective disability, and those with visual disabilities had lower odds of receiving tobacco (AOR=0.80; 95% CI=0.68, 0.95) and drug use (AOR=0.79; 95% CI=0.67, 0.92) screening. Adults with any disability (AOR=1.45; 95% CI=1.04, 2.02), cognitive disabilities (AOR=1.70; 95% CI=1.14, 2.53), and hearing disabilities (AOR=2.88; 95% CI=1.44-5.73) had higher odds of receiving drug use treatment than those without the respective disabilities.

There are disparities in receiving components of screening, brief intervention, and treatment by disability domains. Continued disparities in substance use among those with disabilities may indicate a need for improved accessibility and tailored interventions.