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Measuring Drug Use

Explore key terms like prevalence and incidence, official drug use statistics from UCR and ADAM, and unofficial sources like MTF. Learn the strengths and weaknesses of data collection methods in drug abuse monitoring programs.

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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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