Use of specialty substance abuse and mental health services in adults with substance use disorders in the community

Abstract

Aims: To examine the patterns and correlates of use of specialty substance abuse and mental health services among adults with alcohol or non-alcohol drug abuse or dependence in the community. Methods: Analyses focused on 5,568 participants with alcohol or non-alcohol drug abuse or dependence drawn from a large representative cross-sectional survey of the US general population—the 2002 US National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Results: Only 9.7% of adults with substance use disorders used specialty substance abuse services in the past year; 22.4% used mental health services. Severity of substance use disorder and less education were associated with using substance abuse services. Whereas psychological distress and impairment in role functioning due to psychological problems were associated with mental health service use. Male gender, black race/ethnicity, and lack of health insurance acted as barriers to using mental health services but not specialty substance abuse services. Past year use of substance abuse services, but not mental health services, was associated with lower likelihood of continued use of substances in the past month. Conclusions: Individuals with substance use disorders are more likely to use mental health services than specialty substance abuse services. However, only people who use specialty substance abuse services have a lower risk of continued use of substances. Findings highlight the need for integration of substance abuse treatments in the mental health care system and attention to different barriers to the two types of services.