1 

Estimating Substance Abuse Treatment: A Comparison of Data 

from a Household Survey, a Facility Survey, and an Administrative 

Data Set

Joe Gfroerer1, Jonaki Bose1, Deborah Trunzo1, Alex Strashny1, Kathy Batts2, Michael 

Pemberton2, 

1 Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration 

1 Choke Cherry Road, Rockville, MD 20857 

Joe.Gfroerer@samhsa.hhs.gov

Jonaki.Bose@samhsa.hhs.gov

Deborah.Trunzo@samhsa.hhs.gov 

Alex.Strashny@samhsa.hhs.gov 

2 RTI International 

3040 Cornwallis Rd., Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 

rourke@rti.org

pemberton@rti.org

1. Introduction 

This paper presents an evaluation of the coverage, overlap, biases, strengths, and weaknesses of three sources of data 

on the receipt of substance use treatment. These data sources are managed by the Substance Abuse and Mental 

Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ). 

Substance use treatment includes treatment for alcohol, illicit drugs, or both alcohol and illicit drugs. The three data 

sources include the following: 

• National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 

• National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), and 

• Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS). 

Accurate data on treatment are needed by SAMHSA to fulfill its mission to reduce the impact of substance abuse 

and mental illness on America's communities. Recent data show that over 20 million people needed treatment for a 

substance use problem, and only 11 percent had received any treatment at a specialty substance use treatment 

facility within the past 12 months (CBHSQ, 2013). Key measures of interest include 

• How many people need, seek, and receive substance abuse treatment 

• Barriers to receiving needed care 

• What substances are people treated for 

• Cost, payment sources, outcomes 

• Differences by State, demographics and other factors 

NSDUH, N-SSATS, and TEDS each collect data related to some of these key measures. The overall objective of the 

analyses presented in this paper is to improve the understanding of the information on substance use treatment from 
2 

these three data sources to inform future reporting of results and uses of the data. NSDUH, TEDS, and N-SSATS 

differ in their intended goals and in their methods of data collection. A clear understanding of the differences 

between these three data systems, as well as their strengths and limitations, is necessary in order to maximize the 

usefulness of the systems and ensure the accurate interpretation of findings. 

2. Methods 

2.1 Overview of Data Sources 

NSDUH is the Federal Government's primary source of information on the nature and extent of substance use and 

abuse in the United States. Conducted since 1971, the survey collects data by administering questionnaires to a 

representative sample of persons aged 12 or older at their places of residence. Data collection is currently conducted 

under contract with RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.1 Approximately 67,500 persons are 

surveyed each year through face-to-face interviews. Data from the survey are used extensively by policymakers and 

researchers to measure the prevalence and correlates of licit and illicit substance use, to identify and monitor trends 

in substance use, treatment need and treatment and to analyze differences in substance use patterns by population 

subgroups. The NSDUH also collects data on mental disorders and mental health treatment. Reports on results from 

NSDUH data are available on the SAMHSA Web site (http://www.samhsa.gov/data/NSDUH.aspx). 

NSDUH collects information from residents of households and noninstitutional group quarters (e.g., shelters, 

rooming houses, dormitories) and from civilians living on military bases. The survey excludes homeless persons 

who do not use shelters, military personnel on active duty, and residents of institutional group quarters, such as jails 

and hospitals. Since 1999, the NSDUH interview has been carried out in English or Spanish using computer-assisted 

interviewing (CAI). Most of the questions are administered with audio computer-assisted self-interviewing 

(ACASI). ACASI is designed to provide the respondent with a highly private and confidential mode for responding 

to questions in order to increase the level of honest responses to questions about illicit drug use and other sensitive 

behaviors, including substance use treatment. Less sensitive items are administered by interviewers using computerassisted personal interviewing (CAPI). 

The household screening response rates for the survey years 2005 to 2010 ranged from 88.8 percent in 2010 to 91.3 

percent in 2005. Interview response rates for persons aged 12 to 17 ranged from 84.8 in 2007 to 87.1 in 2005; 

interview response rates for persons aged 18 to 25 ranged from 79.8 percent in 2007 to 83.1 percent in 2005; and 

interview response rates of persons aged 26 or older ranged from 71.4 percent in 2005 to 73.5 percent in 2007. 

NSDUH questions about receipt of substance use treatment are asked of all respondents who report having used 

alcohol or an illicit drug at least once during their lives. Illicit drugs include marijuana or hashish, cocaine (including 

crack), heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, prescription drugs used nonmedically (i.e., that were not prescribed for the 

respondent or were taken only for the experience or feeling they caused), including pain relievers, tranquilizers, 

stimulants, and sedatives. Questions about substance use treatment focus primarily on treatment received within the 

12 months prior to the survey interview, asking about the location at which treatment was received and whether 

treatment was for alcohol or illicit drug use. Other questions ask about whether respondents felt a need for treatment 

(for each specific substance) and if they made an effort to get treatment in the past 12 months. The specific 

substances for which treatment was received, whether they are currently receiving treatment for each substance, 

source of payment, main location, duration of treatment, and outcome of the treatment are obtained in reference to 

the most recent treatment episode. Finally, a separate question asks respondents whether they had been in

“specialty” treatment on October 1 of the previous calendar year. Specialty treatment is defined as treatment 

received as a hospital inpatient, in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility, or in a mental health center. This 

definition has been used in most NSDUH reports and was designed to be comparable to the N-SSATS universe. All 

NSDUH estimates in this study are limited to specialty treatment. The definition of specialty treatment excludes 

treatment at an emergency room, private doctor's office, self-help group, prison or jail, or as an outpatient at a 

hospital. 

 

1

 RTI International is a trade name of Research Triangle Institute. 
3 

This study uses NSDUH data collected over the 6-year period from 2005 through 2010, with multiple years of data 

used in order to provide a sufficient sample size to produce estimates for demographic subgroups. During those 

years, NSDUH employed a State-based design with an independent, multistage area probability sample within each 

State and the District of Columbia. The 8 States with the largest populations (California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, 

New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas, which together account for about half of the total U.S. population aged 

12 or older) were designated as “large sample States” and had an annual sample size of about 3,600 respondents 

each. For the remaining 42 States and the District of Columbia, the annual sample size was about 900 respondents 

per State. The design oversampled adolescents aged 12 to 17 and young adults aged 18 to 25. Approximately 

406,900 completed interviews were obtained from persons aged 12 or older in the 2005 to 2010 NSDUHs. 

N-SSATS is an annual census of all known drug and alcohol abuse treatment facilities in the United States. NSSATS, along with TEDS, is part of the Behavioral Health Services Information System (BHSIS), formerly known 

as the Drug and Alcohol Services Information System (DASIS), a cooperative program between SAMHSA and 

State substance use treatment agencies to collect data on substance use services. N-SSATS data collection and 

analysis are currently conducted under contract with Synectics for Management Decisions, Inc., Arlington, Virginia, 

and Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey. 

N-SSATS is a multi-mode (paper/Web/telephone) census designed to collect information from all facilities in the 

United States, both public and private, that provide substance use treatment. N-SSATS collects data on the location, 

characteristics, and utilization of services at public and private alcohol and drug use treatment facilities throughout 

the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and other U.S. jurisdictions. N-SSATS provides a mechanism for tracking 

the changing character and composition of the U.S. substance use treatment delivery system. The N-SSATS 

questionnaire covers the characteristics of the treatment facility, including client payment sources, services 

provided, hospital and residential capacity, as well as the number of treatment admissions in the past 12 months and 

a single-day client census. The objective of the census is to collect multipurpose data that can be used to 

• assist SAMHSA and State/local governments in quantifying the nature and extent of services provided in Statesupported and other substance use treatment facilities and in forecasting substance use treatment resource 

requirements; 

• update SAMHSA’s Inventory of Behavioral Health Services (I-BHS), formerly known as Inventory of 

Substance Abuse Treatment Services (I-SATS), which includes all known drug and alcohol use treatment 

facilities and mental health treatment facilities; I-BHS is used as a sampling frame for N-SSATS as well as 

other special surveys of treatment providers and their clients; and 

• analyze trends in substance use treatment services and perform comparative analyses for the United States, 

regions of the country, States, counties, and populated areas (metropolitan statistical areas [MSAs] and core 

based statistical areas [CBSAs]). 

Although N-SSATS is a voluntary census, response rates are consistently about 95 percent. The incentive for 

participation is the opportunity to be included in SAMHSA’s online Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator 

and annual National Directory of Drug and Alcohol Treatment Services. This searchable directory of drug and 

alcohol treatment programs shows the location of facilities around the country that treat alcohol use and drug use 

problems. Reports on N-SSATS data are available on the SAMHSA Web site 

(http://www.samhsa.gov/data/DASIS.aspx). 

This paper focuses on N-SSATS data collected in the 3-year period from 2007 through 2009. N-SSATS collects data 

on approximately 14,000 facilities. Information is collected at the site of delivery of services rather than according to 

administrative structure. A Web-based version of the paper questionnaire was introduced in 2002. Participation 

using the Web-based survey has increased over the years; in 2007, about 40 percent of survey responses were 

submitted via the Web and in 2009 about 58 percent of surveys were completed on the Web. 
4 

TEDS is a compilation of data detailing the demographic and substance use characteristics of admissions and 

discharges from substance use treatment. TEDS is part of the BHSIS, a cooperative program among SAMHSA and

State substance abuse agencies to collect data on substance use treatment services. TEDS data collection and 

analysis are currently conducted under contract with Synectics for Management Decisions, Inc., Arlington, Virginia. 

This data collection effort was developed in response to the 1988 Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse, Drug Abuse, and 

Mental Health Amendments (P.L. 100-690), which established a revised Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment 

Block Grant (SAPTBG) and mandated Federal data collection on clients receiving treatment for either alcohol or 

drug abuse. Reports on results from TEDS data are available on the SAMHSA Web site 

(http://www.samhsa.gov/data/DASIS.aspx?qr=t#TEDS). 

The TEDS system comprises two major components—the Admissions Data Set and the Discharge Data Set—which 

are linked at the record level. Information on substance use treatment admissions and discharges that State 

administrative systems routinely collect is submitted to TEDS in a standard format by approximately 10,000 

facilities, programs, or administrative units in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. 

The scope of facilities included in TEDS is affected by differences in State licensure, certification, and accreditation 

practices, as well as disbursement of public funds. Most State substance abuse agencies require facilities that receive 

any State/public funding (including Federal block grant funds) for the provision of alcohol and/or drug treatment 

services to report TEDS data to the State. States differ widely in the amount of public funding available for 

substance use treatment and in the constraints placed on the use of funds. Some State substance abuse agencies 

(SSA) license or monitor facilities operating in their State that do not receive any public funding and require them to 

report TEDS data as well. In States where not all facilities are required to report TEDS data, some facilities do so 

voluntarily. Facilities operated by Federal agencies (e.g., the Bureau of Prisons [BOP], the Department of Defense 

[DoD], and the Department of Veterans Affairs [VA]) generally do not report TEDS data to the State, although 

some facilities operated by the Indian Health Service (IHS) are included. Hospital-based substance use treatment 

facilities are frequently not licensed through the State substance abuse agency and do not report TEDS data. To the 

extent that hospital-based facilities do report to TEDS, the records include those from specialty substance use 

treatment units within hospitals. Correctional facilities (State prisons and local jails) report TEDS data in some 

States but not in others. 

The primary goal of TEDS is to monitor the characteristics of clients admitted to planned, continuing treatment 

regimens. Thus, TEDS excludes early intervention and crisis intervention programs that do not lead to enrollment in 

continued treatment. A majority of States report data on all admissions to all eligible facilities, although some report 

only admissions financed by public funds. 

TEDS observations represent admissions to or discharges from substance use treatment, not individuals. For 

example, one individual admitted to treatment twice within a calendar year would be counted as two separate 

admissions. For the purposes of comparability with the other data sets, we have used data from the TEDS Admission 

Data Set, Discharge Data Set, and the unique identifiers to produce estimates of the unduplicated number of persons

who received treatment. Admission and discharge records linked by a unique identifier represent clients who had 

been both admitted and discharged. Admission records with no linked discharge should indicate that a client had 

been admitted but not yet discharged. However, because the discharge system was not fully operational in all States 

during the years examined, it was assumed that a number of these admissions had, in fact, been discharged. For each 

admission with no linked discharge, a probability of having been discharged was computed in order to provide 

estimates of unduplicated number of persons who received treatment. 

The TEDS Minimum Data Set includes the following information for each admission: date of admission; type of 

service; age; sex; race; ethnicity; number of prior treatment episodes; education; employment status; principal 

source of referral; primary, secondary, and tertiary substance problems and their usual route of administration, 

frequency of use, and age of first use; and planned use of medication-assisted opioid therapy. Information on use of 

primary, secondary, and tertiary problem substances is collected for alcohol and specific illicit substances, similar to 

the substances reported in NSDUH. 

This study focuses on TEDS data collected for the years 2007, 2008, and 2009. TEDS data used in this report are 

from the Admissions Minimum Data Set, a core set of data elements collected at admission by all States, and the 

Discharge Data Set, for which 44 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico reported clients discharged in 
5 

2007; 48 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico reported clients discharged in 2008; and 48 States, the 

District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico reported clients discharged in 2009. In order to establish as much 

comparability between TEDS and NSDUH as possible, data from Puerto Rico are not included in the estimates from 

TEDS shown in this report. Analyses were conducted on data from 47 States, with Alabama, Alaska, the District of 

Columbia, and Georgia were excluded because they submitted no or incomplete data for 1 or more of the 3 years 

analyzed. 

2.2 Analysis Methods 

The principal measures of treatment produced by the three data sets are not directly comparable. NSDUH estimates 

are generally presented in terms of persons receiving treatment, TEDS is typically presented as admissions or 

discharges, and N-SSATS primarily describes the clients in treatment on a single reference day. However, using 

some of the additional items captured by each of the studies and applying certain assumptions, there are measures 

that can be constructed for comparison across the three data systems. We chose three such measures to focus on for 

this study: Number of clients in treatment on a single day (available in all three studies), number of persons 

receiving treatment within a 12 month period (NSDUH and TEDS), and number of admissions over a 12-month 

period (N-SSATS and TEDS). Construction of these measures is described subsequently. 

2.2.1 Single-Day Counts of the Number of Persons in Drug or Alcohol Treatment 

NSDUH. For this study, two different estimates of the number of persons in specialty substance use treatment on a 

single day were derived from NSDUH. One estimate was based on whether a respondent reported current treatment 

at the time of the survey. Respondents who indicated that they had received specialty alcohol or drug treatment in 

the past year were asked if, at the time of the survey, they were currently receiving treatment for alcohol or drug use. 

The estimate used in this study only included those who reported that the main treatment location the last time they 

received treatment was a specialty facility. The second measure of single-day treatment counts was derived from a 

question in which respondents who had received drug or alcohol treatment in their lifetime were asked if they had 

been enrolled in a treatment program at a hospital, drug rehabilitation facility, or mental health center on October 1 

of the calendar year prior to the survey. From this question, an estimate was derived of the number of persons in 

treatment on that specific day. 

N-SSATS. The N-SSATS provides a single-day count of the number of persons in hospital inpatient, residential 

(nonhospital), and outpatient substance use treatment on the last working day of March of each year from 2007 to 

2009 (March 30, 2007; March 31, 2008, and March 31, 2009). For outpatient clients, the count is the number of 

active clients; an active outpatient client is defined as someone who was seen at the facility for substance use 

treatment or detoxification at least once during the month of March and was still enrolled in treatment on the last 

working day of March. These data are based on questionnaire items directly asking about patient population counts, 

by drug or alcohol, or both, and by modality, on the specific reference date. 

TEDS. For this report, estimates were computed for the number of clients in treatment on the last working day in 

March each year from 2007 to 2009 using linked admission and discharge records from TEDS data processed 

through October 10, 2011. The last working day of March was selected for these counts in order to be as consistent 

as possible with the counts provided by the N-SSATS data. Counts included total clients and the numbers of clients 

by use of alcohol only, drugs only, alcohol and drugs, primary alcohol/secondary drug, and primary drug/secondary 

alcohol. Admission records with date of admission on or after January 1, 2000, were included; codependents 

(persons who do not have a substance use disorder but who receive treatment because a loved one has a substance 

use disorder) were excluded. Data for March 30 reference dates were calculated for each year from 2000 to 2008 to 

check that this method yielded plausible data even when discharge records were sparse. 

Estimates comprised the sum of two parts: 

1. Linked records representing clients who had been both admitted and discharged. The number of clients who 

were admitted on or before the reference date and discharged on or after the reference date was calculated. 
6 

2. Admissions records with no linked discharge. The presence of admissions records without any linked discharge 

data may be because a client has been admitted and not yet discharged. However, because the discharge system 

was not fully operative in all States for the years we examined, it can be assumed that a number of these 

admissions without linked discharges had, in fact, been discharged. Therefore, a probability of having been 

discharged by each reference date was computed for each unlinked admission record, based on the assumption 

that the unlinked admission records would have the same probability of being discharged on a given day

following treatment as the linked admission records. The probability of being in treatment on the reference date 

was calculated as 1 minus the cumulative frequency. That is, if 0.34 (34%) of clients had been discharged by 

day 10, then a record with date of admission 10 days before the reference date had a 1.00 - 0.34 = 0.66 (66%) 

chance of being in treatment on the reference date. Probabilities of being in treatment were summed for each 

reference date. Thus, if 100 clients were admitted 10 days before the reference date, each would have a 

probability of 0.66, yielding a total of 66 clients likely to be in treatment on the reference date. 

2.2.2 Persons Receiving Substance Use Treatment in the Past 12 Months 

NSDUH. The NSDUH measure of receipt of specialty substance use treatment in the past year is derived from a 

series of questions about treatment received for alcohol use or illicit drug use (including the nonmedical use of 

prescription type drugs) at specific types of locations during the past 12 months. Persons could report having 

received treatment at more than one location, and they could also report treatment that began before 12 months ago 

and continued into the past year, as well as treatment that is still ongoing (i.e., currently in treatment). Respondents 

who report treatment are asked further details about the last time they received treatment, including the specific 

substances for which they received treatment. 

TEDS. TEDS data provide an overall count of the annual number of admissions for substance use treatment at 

facilities including outpatient, residential, and hospital-inpatient facilities. In addition to this direct count, estimates 

can be computed from the probabilities of having been discharged for (1) the total number of persons admitted to 

treatment in a calendar year and (2) the total number of persons who received treatment in a calendar year, including 

those who were admitted to treatment in a prior year. Multiple admissions linked by a single unique identifier 

represent one person. To eliminate multiple admissions, a person was defined as having a unique combination of 

State of residence, client ID, age, sex, and race/ethnicity. 

For the count of the number of persons receiving treatment in the past year, records were used for persons admitted 

on or before Dec 31 of that year (including admissions occurring in a prior year), and discharged on or after January 

1 of that year (including those still in treatment on January 1 of the next year). Each estimate is made up of 2 parts: 

(1) a direct count from linked admission/discharge records and (2) an estimate, based on the probability of being in 

treatment on Jan 1 of the given year if admitted in a different year, for those admissions not linked to discharges. 

This situation should indicate that a client has been admitted and not yet discharged. However, because the 

discharge system was not fully operative in all States for the years we examined, it can be assumed that a number of 

these admissions without linked discharges had, in fact, been discharged. Therefore, a probability of having been 

discharged by each reference date (January 1) was computed for each unlinked admission record, based on the same 

assumptions that were used to estimate the number of clients in treatment on a single reference date. 

2.2.3 Admissions to Substance Use Treatment in the Past 12 Months 

N-SSATS. N-SSATS data provide an overall count of the annual number of admissions for substance use treatment 

at all substance use treatment facilities that respond to the census. This estimate is based on responses to a direct 

question on the N-SSATS form, asking each facility to report the number of admissions in that facility for a recent 

12-month period. 

TEDS. TEDS data provide an overall count of the annual number of admissions for substance use treatment at 

facilities including outpatient, residential, and hospital-inpatient facilities, based on a count of all the submitted 

admission forms having the admission date during the 12-month period of interest. 
7 

3.Results 

3.1 Single-Day Treatment Counts 

As expected given the design and intended purpose of the TEDS, the TEDS count (532,109) was significantly lower 

than either the NSDUH estimate or the N-SSATS count. The NSDUH October 1 estimate (1,434,851) was the 

highest count, followed by the NSDUH average-day estimate (1,196,460). The N-SSATS count (1,153,617) was 

similar to the NSDUH average day estimate, but lower than the NSDUH October 1 estimate (Table 1). 

For each of the single-day counts except the NSDUH October 1 estimate, individual single-day treatment counts 

were generated for alcohol only treatment, drug only treatment, and treatment for both alcohol and drugs. Among 

the 1,196,460 persons in treatment on an average day according the NSDUH, 36.7 percent were treated for alcohol 

use only, 26.3 percent were treated for drug use only, 35.2 percent were treated for both alcohol and drug use, and 

for 3.8 percent, this information was unknown. From N-SSATS (1,153,617 persons), 18.8 percent were treated for 

alcohol use only, 36.0 percent were treated for drug use only, 45.2 percent were treated for both alcohol and drug 

use. Among the 532,109 persons in treatment on a single day in TEDS, 19.3 percent were treated for alcohol use 

only, 40.9 percent were treated for drug use only, 37.4 percent were treated for both alcohol and drug use, and 2.4 

percent had no reported substance use at the time of admission. A possible explanation for the disparity between the 

percentages of persons receiving treatment for alcohol only in the N-SSATS and TEDS single day counts (18.8 and 

19.3 percent for N-SSATS and TEDS, respectively) is that the increased stigma of receiving treatment for a drug use 

problem relative to that of an alcohol use problem may affect self-reports in NSDUH of the focus of treatment. 

There is substantial variation between single-day treatment counts/estimates across States. The TEDS count is lower 

than the counts from the other data systems in all 8 States examined, though not significantly so in Illinois, New 

York, Ohio, and Texas. New York, for example, is a state where all substance abuse treatment admissions are 

reported, since the New York SSA licenses both public and private treatment facilities.

3.2 Number of Persons Who Received Treatment in the Past 12 Months 

The NSDUH estimate of the total count/estimate of the number of persons who received substance use treatment 

from specialty treatment facilities in the past year was higher than the TEDS count (2,464,150 vs. 1,928,578). 

A comparison of the treatment characteristics of persons who received substance use treatment from a specialty 

facility in the past year also shows several differences between the two data sources (Table 2). Although the 

NSDUH estimate and the TEDS count reflected similar proportions of persons who received treatment in an 

outpatient setting (81.1 and 78.2 percent, respectively), the NSDUH estimate included a notably higher percentage 

of persons who received treatment in an inpatient hospital setting than the TEDS count (31.4 vs. 3.2 percent). In 

terms of numbers of persons, this translates to 774,093 for NSDUH and 61,382 for TEDS. The NSDUH estimate 

also reflected a higher percentage of persons who received treatment in a residential rehabilitation facility than the 

TEDS count (40.8 vs. 28.2 percent). The percentage of persons in the NSDUH estimate who were treated for

marijuana use problems was lower than the corresponding percentage in the TEDS count (31.0 vs. 39.7 percent). 

The NSDUH estimates included higher percentages of persons treated for prescription drugs, inhalants, 

hallucinogens, and alcohol than did the TEDS counts (26.3 vs. 12.5 percent for prescription drugs, 6.0 vs. 0.2 

percent for inhalants, 10.9 vs. 0.6 percent for hallucinogens, and 69.3 vs. 59.5 percent for alcohol). One possible 

explanation for the difference between the percentage of persons treated for prescription drugs reflected in the 

NSDUH estimate and the TEDS count is that TEDS queries treatment for methamphetamine use as a separate 

category, whereas NSDUH includes treatment for methamphetamine use as treatment for prescription drugs. The 

NSDUH estimate included a lower proportion of injection drug users than the TEDS count did (7.3 vs. 12.4

percent). 

There was some variation between the treatment counts from the two data sources on several demographic 

characteristics (Table 2). The NSDUH estimate included a lower percentage of youths and a greater percentage of 

older persons. The NSDUH estimate included a higher proportion of non-Hispanic whites and lower percentages of 

non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics than the TEDS count. The proportions of males and females were similar 

between the two data sources. The NSDUH estimate included a higher percentage of persons with more than a high 
8 

school education and a lower percentage of persons with 8 or fewer years of education than the TEDS count. 

Differences in the socioeconomic status of the treatment population were also evident in proportions unemployed 

(12.7% in 2005-10 NSDUH, 39.8% in 2009 TEDS) (CBHSQ, 2011). One possible explanation for these findings is 

that many States require only publicly funded facilities to report data to TEDS, and some States only require 

facilities to report TEDS data for patients for whom treatment is publicly funded. 

In six of the eight States examined, the TEDS count of the number of persons who received substance use treatment 

in the past year was smaller than the NSDUH estimate (Table 3). Notable differences between the TEDS count and 

the NSDUH estimate were found in four States. For example, in Florida, the NSDUH estimate (138,035) was higher 

than the TEDS count (67,305). There were similar disparities between the NSDUH estimates and TEDS counts in 

Michigan (102,203 vs. 57,956), Pennsylvania (108,068 vs. 46,990), and Texas (84,936 vs. 41,930). In two States, 

the TEDS count was larger than the NSDUH estimate, but the disparities were not statistically significant. In New 

York, the TEDS count was 245,898 persons, and the NSDUH estimate was 207,852. In Ohio, the TEDS count was 

105,443 persons, and the NSDUH estimate was 96,729.

3.3 Past Year Admissions 

This section compares the counts of substance use treatment admissions for N-SSATS and TEDS. As noted 

previously, data from Alabama, Alaska, District of Columbia, and Georgia were excluded from the TEDS counts 

because no or incomplete TEDS data were submitted for one or more of the three years examined (2007-2009) in 

these areas. For the purpose of these comparisons, N-SSATS estimates were restricted to the subset of 47 States that 

were used to generate the TEDS counts. These counts, for 2007, 2008, 2009, and an average of the three years are 

presented in Table 4. The TEDS admissions count is less than 60 percent of the N-SSATS admissions count 

(1,953,448 vs. 3,483,632, respectively). This difference is higher when comparing all N-SSATs states (national 

counts) to the TEDS overall counts. This difference is seen in the individual states, with a few exceptions. 

4. Conclusions 

There is considerable variation between these three data sources in important factors such as coverage, methods and 

timing of data collection, definitions, and information captured. As a result, each of these data sources has its own 

strengths and limitations that must be considered when deciding which data source to use in order to address specific 

policy or research questions. This paper documents some of these key strengths and weaknesses, and shows how the 

methodological differences impact the estimates of substance use treatment from these three data sources. 

Across the three measures, TEDS shows under-coverage relative to N-SSATS and NSDUH. The TEDS estimate of 

the single day count is only 46 percent of the N-SSATS count and 37 to 44 percent of the NSDUH estimates. The 

TEDS estimate of persons receiving treatment is 78 percent of the NSDUH estimate, and the count of past year 

admissions is only 56 percent of the N-SSATS estimate. The TEDS undercount varies by state and appears to be 

most severe among inpatient hospital treatment populations and among low-SES persons. N-SSATS and NSDUH 

estimates of the single day count are generally similar, but NSDUH shows a higher proportion of clients receiving 

treatment for alcohol use. 

TEDS includes persons who are homeless and those who are institutionalized in treatment facilities long term, 

whereas homeless or institutionalized persons have less of a chance of inclusion in the NSDUH. NSDUH includes 

people who are treated in privately funded facilities and persons whose treatment is privately funded as well as those 

whose treatment was publicly funded, whereas TEDS is mainly limited to those whose treatment was publicly 

funded. The NSDUH questionnaire includes a great deal of information about individuals who received treatment 

which can be tied to other covariates collected in the survey, which allows for more specific analyses regarding 

coverage for different demographic groups. N-SSATS includes a census of all facilities regardless of funding. 

All three data systems produce counts or estimates by State. State level analyses not only are useful to local and 

State officials, but also can provide policy assessments based on differing laws, policies, and conditions in States. 

These analyses require consistent data collection methods, definitions, and coverage across States to ensure the data 

are comparable. While comparability is achieved in NSDUH and N-SSATS, small sample sizes in some States is an 
9 

important limitation of NSDUH for State-level comparisons. Reporting anomalies in TEDS require extra caution in 

drawing conclusions about differences in treatment by State. For example, 

• The number and characteristics of TEDS client records depends, to some extent, on external factors, including 

the availability of public funds. In States with higher funding levels, a larger percentage of the substanceabusing population may be admitted to treatment, including the less severely impaired and the less 

economically disadvantaged. 

• The way an admission is defined may vary from State to State such that the absolute number of admissions is 

not a valid measure for comparing States. 

• States continually review the quality of their data processing. As systematic errors are identified, revisions may 

be enacted in historical TEDS data files. While this system improves the dataset over time, reported historical 

statistics may change slightly from year to year. 

• States vary in the extent to which coercion plays a role in referral to treatment. This variation derives from 

criminal justice practices and differing concentrations of abuser subpopulations. 

• Public funding constraints may direct States to selectively target special populations, for example, pregnant 

women or adolescents. 

Some of the basic questions about substance use treatment concern trends over time in service need or utilization. In 

TEDS, there are two principle sources of variations in estimates of variation over time: reporting anomalies 

(discussed above) and true changes in admission and discharge patterns. N-SSATS and NSDUH have relatively 

fewer methodological shifts or anomalies that may cause variations in the data over time. In the absence of those, 

differences in N-SSATS or NSDUH counts or estimates, when statistically significant and meaningful, may be 

expected to reflect actual changes. One limitation of NSDUH is that because it is a sample survey, trends in rare 

events and among subpopulations may be difficult to assess due to potentially large sampling error. 

The analyses presented in this paper are a first step in developing clear guidance for future analyses to better answer 

some basic questions about substance use treatment, such as: how many people receive treatment in a year; how 

large is the gap between treatment received and treatment needed; how have the numbers of people receiving and 

needing treatment changed over time. The discussion and conclusions in this study are also a step toward 

understanding how to answer questions about the data sources, such as: why do these studies give conflicting results, 

and which estimate should be used to answer my question about substance use treatment. 

The analysis also suggests some further work that could be done with these three data sets. Avenues of investigation 

could include: 

• What number/proportion of the TEDS count of persons in treatment are homeless persons or persons who have

been institutionalized long term, and what are the characteristics of these persons? 

• Can N-SSATS and TEDS be linked at some level to quantify the extent and the nature of the under-coverage in 

TEDS? 

• Can the N-SSATS past year admissions numbers be used to generate person-level past year treatment counts? 

• Are there changes in definitions, questionnaires, and eligibility rules in these three studies that will facilitate 

joint analyses? 

• Can admissions be estimated from NSDUH, without adding new questions? 

• Are there ways of utilizing TEDS and N-SSATS to enhance the precision of NSDUH small area estimates? 
10 

• How can NSDUH and TEDS be used to enhance N-SSATS so that more informative estimates of admissions 

and persons receiving treatment can be made? 

Finally, it is important to recognize that the nature of these data sets and how they may be used in the future will not 

remain constant. The movement towards more integrated care, mental health parity, and health care reform will 

undoubtedly lead to changing data needs and data systems. The results presented here will be valuable to 

policymakers and designers of data systems as the substance use treatment system evolves within the broader health 

care context. 

5. References 

Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. (2011). Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS): 1999-2009.

National admissions to substance abuse treatment services (HHS Publication No. SMA 11-4646, DASIS Series: S56). Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Retrieved from 

http://wwwdasis.samhsa.gov/teds09/teds2k9nweb.pdf 

Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. (2013). Results from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and 

Health: Summary of national findings (HHS Publication No. SMA 13-4795; NSDUH Series H-46). Rockville, MD: 

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 
11 

Table 1. Single-Day Treatment Counts1 for Alcohol or Drug Treatment Specialty Treatment and

Confidence Intervals for Estimates of Single-Day Treatment Counts Overall and by Substance 

for Which Treatment was Received in the United States and 8 Largest States: NSDUH 2008 to 

2010 Combined (October 1 and Average-Day Counts), N-SSATS 2007 to 2009 Combined (All 

Facilities) and TEDS 2007 to 2009 Combined 

 

NSDUH 

October 1

2008 to 2010 

NSDUH 

Average Day 

2007 to 20092,3 

Number (95% CI)

TEDS 

March 30th

2007 to 2009

N-SSATS – 

All Facilities 

March 30th

2007 to 2009

 # 95% CI # 95% CI # # 

Any Treatment – Total 

United States 1,434,851 (1,278,112-1,610,688) 1,196,460 (1,066,843-1,341,740) 532,109 1,153,617 

Eight Largest States 

California 201,700 (133,352-304,722) 152,925 (100,457-232,583) 68,868 139,043

Florida 75,198 (45,902-123,044) 85,986 (53,239-138,693) 15,646 51,470

Illinois 71,469 (44,539-114,507) 44,802 (28,032-71,538) 13,794 44,902

Michigan 57,947 (41,724-80,416) 46,804 (31,818-68,788) 12,552 42,676

New York 110,008 (66,014-182,993) 100,975 (68,315-149,107) 80,054 117,075

Ohio 50,830 (33,095-77,990) 36,628 (24,087-55,658) 25,825 36,847

Pennsylvania 53,555 (35,397-80,956) 69,628 (47,989-100,928) 20,791 47,438

Texas 66,942 (43,044-104,038) 14,796 (7,643-28,634) 7,972 40,171

Treatment Focus 

Alcohol Only NA NA 438,665 (354,848-542,237) 102,587 216,832 

Drugs Only NA NA 314,806 (261,637-378,764) 217,502 414,845 

Alcohol and Drugs NA NA 397,732 (333,100-474,879) 198,871 521,940 

Alcohol Primary NA NA 165,571 (125,368-218,657) 86,898 NA

Drug Primary NA NA 228,813 (180,823-289,525) 111,973 NA

Unknown Substance NA NA 45,257 (29,579-69,242) 13,148 NA

NA = not available 

NOTE 1: Not all States report to TEDS. Counts for NSDUH and N-SSATS do not exclude data from States not 

reporting to TEDS for a given year. 

NOTE 2: N-SSATS collects information from public and private facilities, and includes facilities operated by 

Federal agencies. TEDS collects data primarily from publicly funded facilities and does not include data 

from federally operated facilities. 

1 Single-day treatment counts are based on a reference date of October 1 for NSDUH and March 30 for N-SSATS 

and TEDS. Because the reference date for NSDUH is October 1 of the prior year in other tables, for consistency 

across tables, N-SSATS and TEDS data are based on the data file from the previous year. NSDUH “Treatment”

includes treatment received at a hospital, drug rehabilitation facility or mental health facility. Nonspecialty 

treatment data are excluded from total counts. NSDUH October 1 single-day treatment counts are derived from 

TX43. “Alcohol or drug treatment” refers to treatment for either alcohol or drugs. Individuals in treatment for 

alcohol only, drugs only, and both alcohol and drugs, and those for whom the substance for which they were 

treated is unknown are included. 

2 NSDUH average-day single-day counts are derived from the single-day question (TX07) and from the question on 

outcome of last treatment (TX38 where the response option is still in treatment). 

3 Data are subset to the following categories from TX25: (1) hospital as an outpatient, (2) inpatient at a residential 

drug or alcohol rehabilitation facility, (3) outpatient at a residential drug or alcohol rehabilitation facility, and (4) 

outpatient at a mental health center or facility. 
12 

Table 2. Numbers and Percentages and Confidence Intervals of Numbers and Percentages of Persons 

That Received Substance Use Treatment from Specialty Treatment Programs in the Past 

Year in the United States: NSDUH 2005 to 2010 and TEDS 2007 to 2009 

NSDUH 

2005 to 2010 Average 

(All States) 

TEDS

2007 to 2009 Average 

Number (95% CI) 

Percentage 

(95% CI) Number Percentage 

Total 2,464,150 (2,336,545-2,598,650) 100.0 (NA) 1,928,578 100.0 

Modality 

Hospital Inpatient 774,093 (717,561-832,956) 31.4 (29.1-33.8) 61,382 3.2 

Residential Rehabilitation—

Inpatient 1,004,459 (943,901-1,066,177) 40.8 (38.3-43.3) 543,456 28.2 

Outpatient 1,999,029 (1,946,842-2,047,078) 81.1 (79.0-83.1) 1,507,988 78.2 

Outpatient Rehabilitation 1,673,268 (1,612,645-1,731,535) 67.9 (65.4-70.3) NA NA

Mental Health Center or 

Facility—Outpatient 1,032,262 (970,415-1,095,160) 41.9 (39.4-44.4) NA NA

Substance 

Marijuana 764,690 (712,629-818,777) 31.0 (28.9-33.2) 766,433 39.7 

Cocaine (including crack) 636,416 (582,894-693,043) 25.8 (23.7-28.1) 488,826 25.3 

Heroin 341,168 (295,184-393,017) 13.8 (12.0-15.9) 293,395 15.2 

Prescription Drugs 657,661 (608,386-709,401) 26.7 (24.7-28.8) 240,288 12.5 

Methamphetamine NA NA 213,176 11.1 

Inhalants 149,737 (125,109-178,843) 6.1 (5.1-7.3) 3,574 0.2 

Hallucinogens 271,434 (239,619-306,889) 11.0 (9.7-12.5) 12,139 0.6 

Alcohol 1,695,291 (1,638,653-1,749,738) 68.8 (66.5-71.0) 1,146,597 59.5 

Route of Administration 

Injection 178,090 (148,707-212,739) 7.3 (6.1-8.7) 238,459 12.4 

Age 

12 to 17 158,143 (143,811-173,796) 6.4 (5.8-7.1) 170,289 8.8 

18 to 24 462,044 (431,746-493,952) 18.8 (17.5-20.0) 372,992 19.3 

25 to 34 576,308 (526,266-629,563) 23.4 (21.4-25.5) 504,865 26.2 

35 to 44 556,134 (504,025-611,948) 22.6 (20.5-24.8) 446,508 23.2 

45 or Older 711,521 (645,450-781,449) 28.9 (26.2-31.7) 433,924 22.5 

Race/Ethnicity 

Not Hispanic 2,153,846 (2,104,459-2,197,311) 87.4 (85.4-89.2) 1,601,402 85.3 

White 1,636,071 (1,571,302-1,698,431) 66.4 (63.8-68.9) 1,135,068 60.4 

Black 422,623 (371,984-478,580) 17.2 (15.1-19.4) 368,823 19.6 

American Indian/Alaska 

Native 29,939 (21,804-41,059) 1.2 (0.9-1.7) 39,924 2.1 

Asian/Pacific Islander 24,320 (14,499-40,683) 1.0 (0.6-1.7) 21,267 1.1 

Two or More Races 40,892 (29,041-57,463) 1.7 (1.2-2.3) 11,031 0.6 

Other NA NA 25,285 1.3 

Hispanic or Latino 310,304 (266,839-359,691) 12.6 (10.8-14.6) 276,702 14.7 

Sex 

Male 1,640,333 (1,581,404-1,697,236) 66.6 (64.2-68.9) 1,292,491 67.0 

Female 823,817 (766,914-882,746) 33.4 (31.1-35.8) 635,540 33.0 

Years of Education 

0 to 8 years 138,804 (115,522-166,444) 5.6 (4.7-6.8) 180,424 9.5 

9 to 11 years 670,605 (616,389-727,711) 27.2 (25.0-29.5) 541,507 28.6 

12 (High School/GED) 816,660 (759,160-876,277) 33.1 (30.8-35.6) 752,030 39.8 

More than 12 838,081 (775,417-903,102) 34.0 (31.5-36.6) 417,619 22.1 

NA = Not available. 
13 

Table 3. Numbers and Confidence Intervals of Numbers and Percentages of Persons That Received 

Substance Use Treatment from Specialty Treatment Programs in the Past Year for the Eight 

Largest States: NSDUH 2005 to 2010 and TEDS 2007 to 2009 

State 

NSDUH 

2005 to 2010 Average 

(All States) 

TEDS

2007 to 2009 Average 

Number 95% CI Number 

California 270,380 217,949-335,282 231,884 

Florida 138,035 111,991 - 170,067 67,305 

Illinois 95,950 79,400-115,911 69,483 

Michigan 102,203 85,273-122,445 57,956 

New York 207,852 168,643-256,032 245,898 

Ohio 96,729 80,240-116,564 105,443 

Pennsylvania 108,068 89,934-129,814 46,990 

Texas 84,936 65,807-109,593 41,930 
14 

Table 4. Substance Use Treatment Annual Admissions, by State: N-SSATS 2007 to 

2009, and TEDS 2007 to 2009 

Annual Admissions 

N-SSATS1 TEDS 

Average Average 

Total United States2 3,483,632 1,953,448 

State 

Arizona 86,578 20,449 

Arkansas 15,296 22,712 

California 389,426 195,666 

Colorado 99,529 84,391 

Connecticut 69,621 46,000 

Delaware 11,282 8,048 

Florida 190,871 70,987 

Hawaii 11,711 7,196 

Idaho 12,375 5,486 

Illinois 163,965 72,921 

Indiana 75,643 22,036 

Iowa 35,252 27,966 

Kansas 35,046 16,972 

Kentucky 66,244 22,566 

Louisiana 44,233 25,933 

Maine 24,579 15,398 

Maryland 85,038 65,293 

Massachusetts 148,551 86,710 

Michigan 147,706 65,519 

Minnesota 74,522 50,463 

Mississippi 21,447 8,335 

Missouri 68,998 49,667 

Montana 15,025 8,169 

Nebraska 25,324 16,254 

Nevada 26,325 9,711 

New Hampshire 11,369 6,068 

New Jersey 82,909 65,067 

New Mexico 43,800 11,147 

New York 322,386 312,243 

North Carolina 95,308 38,450 

North Dakota 12,666 2,460 

Ohio 120,778 105,537 

Oklahoma 35,131 16,788 

Oregon 69,740 51,921 

Pennsylvania 163,076 69,816 

Rhode Island 16,326 11,182 

South Carolina 50,237 27,129 

South Dakota 15,005 15,280 

Tennessee 48,612 10,148 

Texas 133,911 45,510 

(continued) 
15 

Table 4. Substance Use Treatment Annual Admissions, by State: N-SSATS 2007 to 

2009, and TEDS 2007 to 2009 (continued) 

Annual Admissions 

N-SSATS1 TEDS 

Average Average 

State (continued) 

Utah 37,281 14,541 

Vermont 13,191 7,930 

Virginia 68,308 31,754 

Washington 102,097 39,220 

West Virginia 18,799 11,117 

Wisconsin 67,634 29,351 

Wyoming 10,481 5,938 

1 N-SSATS annual admission counts reflect past year admissions reported on the last working day of March in the 

given year. 

2 Both TEDS and N-SSATS total and regional counts exclude Alabama, Alaska, District of Columbia, and Georgia, 

which had incomplete TEDS reporting.