Alcohol Treatment: Need, Utilization, and Barriers

Highlights:

SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use & Health defines need for alcohol treatment as meeting criteria for alcohol dependence or abuse using criteria specified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). The criteria includes symptoms such as withdrawal, tolerance, use in dangerous situations, trouble with the law, and interference in major obligations at work, school, or home during the past year. Also included are people who received treatment in a specialty substance abuse treatment facility in the past year for their alcohol use.
Based on SAMHSA's 2007 National Survey on Drug Use & Health, 7.8% (19.3 million) persons aged 12 or older needed treatment for their alcohol problem in the past year.

The majority of those who needed alcohol treatment either did not perceive the need for treatment or did not receive it. Of those who needed alcohol treatment in the past year, 8.1% received treatment at a specialty treatment facility, 4.5% did not receive treatment but felt they needed it, and 87.4% neither received nor perceived a need for alcohol treatment.

Among those who did not receive alcohol treatment but felt they needed it, only 27.9% actually made an effort to get treatment in the past year.
Combined data from SAMHSA's 2004 to 2007 National Surveys on Drug Use & Health were used to determine reasons for not receiving alcohol treatment. The most common reasons given for not receiving alcohol treatment among those who felt the need for it were: 42% were not ready to stop using alcohol and 34.5% had cost or insurance barriers.

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