Disparities Between Treatment Completion

Today, substance abuse treatment is more available than ever and people from all walks of life and every demographic can receive treatment. However, success rates vary depending on ethnic backgrounds, according to a new study that included data from 940,058 participants in outpatient substance abuse treatment centers.

A state-by-state analysis of treatment programs found that in many states, minorities are less likely than whites to successfully complete treatment programs. Disparities were seen among states with regard to racial and ethnic differences.

Substance abuse treatment program overall completion showed:

• 46.25 percent of whites
• 45.6 percent of Latinos
• 37.5 percent of African-Americans

African-American clients in Tennessee were 35 percent less likely to complete treatment programs than whites. Latinos in Vermont were almost 22 percent less likely than whites to complete treatment.

In Hawaii, Utah, and Mississippi, African-American clients were slightly more likely than whites to complete programs, according to the University of Iowa researchers. In 17 states, Latinos were more likely than whites to complete programs, including Texas, Florida, Oregon and Kansas.

“Our findings suggest that for most states there’s something amiss,” researcher Stephan Arndt, PhD, said in a news release. “There are strong racial and ethnic disparities for people in being able to complete substance abuse treatment programs successfully, and those disparities are something we need to set as targets to remove.”

Arndt went on to say, “On the positive side, the study clearly shows that some states have been able to eliminate disparities. We need to examine the states that are being successful and compare what they are doing with those states that are not doing so well – what can we learn from successful states?”

The study appears in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.