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Measuring Drug Use

Measuring Drug Use. Lecture 4. What to Expect in This Lecture. Discussion of Important Terms Official Drug Use Statistics Unofficial Drug Use Statistics. Some Important Terms. Epidemiology – study of the spread and distribution of a disease or behavior Etiology – study of causes

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Measuring Drug Use

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  1. Measuring Drug Use Lecture 4

  2. What to Expect in This Lecture • Discussion of Important Terms • Official Drug Use Statistics • Unofficial Drug Use Statistics

  3. Some Important Terms • Epidemiology – study of the spread and distribution of a disease or behavior • Etiology – study of causes • Prevalence – total number of individuals who engage in a behavior • Incidence – total number of events of a particular kind of behavior • Rates – number of individuals engaging in a behavior per unit of population

  4. Official Drug Use Statistics • Official statistics are those data which are collected by gov’t or agencies working with gov’t as a function of day to day organizational procedures • Will be examining following official statistics • Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) • Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program (ADAM) • Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) • Treatment data compiled by Drug and Alcohol Services Information System (DASIS)

  5. Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) • UCR are collected by police departments and reported to FBI • Total of 29 offense types reported • Part I Offenses – 8 of the most serious offenses • Part II Offenses – 21 additional offenses considered less serious • Drug offenses (Part II): • Sales/Manufacture • Possession • DUI • Drunkenness • Other Liquor Law violation • Must be cautious in interpretation because of extremely high “dark figure”

  6. Drug and Alcohol Arrests, 2007

  7. Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program (ADAM) • Formerly Drug Use Forecasting System (DUF) established in 1987 • Arrestees in selected cities interviewed regarding drug use within 48 hours of arrest • Urine samples are taken to corroborate interviews

  8. Prevalence of Drug Use among Arrestees Male Drug Use in Los Angeles, 1990-1999 Female Drug Use in Los Angeles, 1990-1999

  9. Evaluation of ADAM • Advantages • Data are collected by trained interviewers • Has a built-in verification system: urine samples • Disadvantages • Data limited to arrestees • Data limited primarily to large cities

  10. Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) • Began in 1975 • Consists of two sources of data • Emergency Rooms • Medical Examiners

  11. Drug Use Patterns Revealed by DAWNEmergency Room Data

  12. Drug Use Patterns Revealed by DAWNMedical Examiner Data

  13. Evaluation of DAWN • Strengths • Provides information not available in any other source • Collected annually • Weaknesses • Cannot be used as reliable estimate of actual prevalence of drug use • ER data not necessarily a good measure of problem drug use • ME data are delayed in their publication • ME data may be suspect with regard to cause of death

  14. Drug and Alcohol Services Information System (DASIS) • Contains information from drug treatment facilities • First began as Client Oriented Data Acquisition Process (CODAP) in 1973 • DASIS was established in 1989 • Consists of 3 parts • Inventory of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (I-SATS) • National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (S-SSATS) • Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS)

  15. Prevalence of Drug Use as Revealed by TEDS

  16. Evaluation of DASIS (TEDS) • Based on treatment admissions • Hence, cannot be generalized to larger population of drug admissions • Some individuals may be admitted more than once during a reporting period • No uniform reporting requirements • States will vary in what and how they report

  17. Unofficial Drug Statistics • These are statistics gathered for the express purpose of identifying drug users and gathering specific information about them • Government agencies sometimes fund or otherwise cooperate with these research efforts • We will examine primarily the following unofficial sources: • Monitoring the Future (MTF) • National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA)

  18. Monitoring the Future • Began in 1975 at U. Mich., directed by Lloyd Johnston • Began with 16,000 seniors • In 1991, 8th and 10th graders added • Data collected annually • Students are asked regarding: • Lifetime drug use • Use in last year • Use in last 30 days Lloyd Johnston (right)

  19. Prevalence of Drug Use as Measured by MTF

  20. Evaluation of MTF • Strengths • Great care given to obtaining national random sample • Because it is done annually, with different cohorts, and with follow-up, provides following information: • “Period effects” (changes over time within a particular age range) • Developmental changes within a cohort over time • Differences among cohorts over life cycle • Changes associated with different environments (e.g., high school to college, etc.) • Weakness • Restricted to young people

  21. National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) • Conducted since 1971 by the federal gov’t • Only since 1992 on an annual basis • Residents of households aged 12 and over are surveyed face-to face • Currently approx. 70,000 people are interviewed • Survey includes questions on: • Frequency of drug use • Attitudes toward drug use • Problems encountered related to drug use • Treatment needs and experiences

  22. Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) • Developed and Conducted by the Centers for Disease Control • Nationally representative samples of public and private school students in grades 9-12 • Drug and alcohol use part of larger focus on risk behaviors among youth • Drugs addressed include: • Alcohol (including binge drinking) • Tobacco • Marijuana • Cocaine

  23. Prevalence of Drug Use as Measured by YRBH Percent Reporting Drug Use in Last 30 Days

  24. Evaluation of YRBH • This survey compares to MTF • Both use 3-stage sampling • Both suffer limitation of administering in classes • Disadvantages over MTF • Does not include 8th graders • Administered only biennially • Does not report by single age cohort (grades 9-12 are lumped together) • Number of drugs examined is limited • Includes no summary measure of “any illicit drug”

  25. Prevalence of Drug Use as Measured by NSDUH

  26. Evaluation of NSDUH • Strengths • Like MTF, great care given to getting a random sample • Advantage over MTF is that all ages 12 and over are included • Weaknesses • Institutional populations are not included

  27. Other Unofficial SourcesPulse Check • Utilizes several sources of data • Academic sources • Utilizes ethnographers and epidemiologists studying drug use (including sociologists) • Law enforcement sources • Treatment provider sources • Data are reported semiannually from about 20 cities • Reports on 6 drug use categories: • Heroin • Crack • Cocaine • Marijuana • Methamphetamines • Club drugs

  28. Other Unofficial Sources: Community Epidemiology Work Group (CEWG) • Network of epidemiologists who meet each year to discuss trends in drug use • Monitors drug use in 21 cities • Base reports on several sources that we have already discussed

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