| Characteristics | Overall (N = 868) | DAST-10 Drug Use Severity Subcategory* | P Value† | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low (n = 278) | Intermediate (n = 328) | Substantial/Severe (n = 262) | |||
| Demographics | |||||
| Age, mean years (SD) | 47.76 (10.89) | 48.73 (11.69) | 48.28 (10.83) | 46.09 (9.89) | .01 |
| Male sex | 604 (70) | 183 (66) | 235 (72) | 186 (71) | .25 |
| Race‡ | .01 | ||||
| White | 386 (45) | 143 (52) | 132 (41) | 111 (43) | |
| Black | 320 (37) | 82 (30) | 126 (39) | 112 (43) | |
| Other | 150 (18) | 49 (18) | 65 (20) | 36 (14) | |
| Hispanic | 72 (9) | 19 (7) | 25 (8) | 28 (12) | .16 |
| Marital status | .04 | ||||
| Married/living with partner | 161 (19) | 51 (18) | 73 (22) | 37 (14) | |
| Divorced/separated/widowed | 348 (40) | 99 (36) | 132 (40) | 117 (45) | |
| Never married | 357 (41) | 126 (46) | 123 (38) | 108 (41) | |
| Education | <.001 | ||||
| High school or less | 166 (19) | 38 (14) | 66 (20) | 62 (24) | |
| High school graduate | 254 (29) | 70 (25) | 98 (30) | 86 (33) | |
| Beyond high school | 447 (52) | 170 (61) | 163 (50) | 114 (44) | |
| Employment status | .01 | ||||
| Working | 78 (9) | 35 (13) | 31 (9) | 12 (5) | |
| Unemployed/retired/in school/ homemaker/other | 238 (27) | 84 (30) | 89 (27) | 65 (25) | |
| Disabled and unable to work | 551 (64) | 159 (57) | 208 (63) | 184 (70) | |
| Homeless in shelter or on street ≥1 night in the past 90 days | 263 (30) | 42 (15) | 91 (28) | 130 (50) | <.001 |
| Substance use/treatment | |||||
| ASI days most frequently used drug, mean (SD)§ | 13.82 (11.00) | 12.25 (11.00) | 14.35 (11.08) | 14.84 (10.77) | .01 |
| ASI drug use composite score, mean (SD)§‖ | 0.11 (0.10) | 0.06 (0.05) | 0.10 (0.09) | 0.19 (0.12) | <.001 |
| ASI drug use, any in the past 30 days¶ | |||||
| Marijuana | 656 (76) | 243 (87) | 249 (76) | 164 (63) | <.001 |
| Stimulants¶ | 362 (42) | 40 (14) | 141 (43) | 181 (69) | <.001 |
| Cocaine | 325 (37) | 34 (12) | 130 (40) | 161 (61) | <.001 |
| Amphetamines | 63 (7) | 7 (3) | 20 (6) | 36 (14) | <.001 |
| Opiates¶ | 228 (26) | 33 (12) | 93 (28) | 102 (39) | <.001 |
| Heroin | 59 (7) | 1 (0) | 13 (4) | 45 (17) | <.001 |
| Methadone and other opiates/analgesics not prescribed | 208 (24) | 33 (12) | 86 (26) | 89 (34) | <.001 |
| Sedatives/hypnotics/tranquilizers | 72 (8) | 7 (3) | 28 (9) | 37 (14) | <.001 |
| Other drugs§# | 51 (6) | 9 (3) | 19 (6) | 23 (9) | .02 |
| ≥2 Drugs used in the past 30 days§ | 389 (45) | 63 (23) | 152 (46) | 174 (66) | <.001 |
| Intravenous drug use in the past 30 days | 72 (8) | 5 (2) | 15 (5) | 52 (20) | <.001 |
| Goal of total abstinence from drugs§** | 323 (37) | 40 (14) | 124 (38) | 159 (61) | <.001 |
| ASI alcohol use composite score, mean (SD)‖ | 0.15 (0.20) | 0.08 (0.13) | 0.13 (0.18) | 0.25 (0.25) | <.001 |
| ASI alcohol use, any in the past 30 days | 598 (69) | 182 (65) | 220 (67) | 196 (75) | .04 |
| Nicotine use, any in the past 30 days | 620 (72) | 169 (61) | 242 (74) | 209 (80) | <.001 |
| CD treatment services†† | |||||
| Admitted to CD treatment | 147 (17) | 17 (6) | 44 (14) | 86 (34) | <.001 |
| Detoxification (not followed by CD treatment) | 65 (8) | 9 (3) | 14 (4) | 42 (17) | <.001 |
| Other Psychosocial | |||||
| ≥1 Arrest for felony or gross misdemeanor†† | 122 (14) | 17 (6) | 45 (14) | 60 (24) | <.001 |
| HIV risk-taking score, mean (SD)§§ | 3.35 (4.21) | 2.57 (3.16) | 3.12 (3.67) | 4.46 (5.45) | <.001 |
| ASI family/social composite score, mean (SD)§ | 0.17 (0.22) | 0.12 (0.18) | 0.17 (0.21) | 0.22 (0.25) | <.001 |
Data are reported as no. (%) of participants unless otherwise indicated. Missing values are not included in this table.
↵* Of 10,337 individuals screened, 1,621, or about 16%, were eligible. Of these, 520 declined to participate and 154 were excluded for other reasons (eg, left during the consent process). The remaining 947 provided consent. Of these 947, 79 were excluded (22 because of current participation in chemical dependency (CD) treatment, 9 because they had acute suicidality or psychosis, 8 because they had no drug use in the past 3 months, 3 because they were not a primary care patient, and 2 because they had insufficient contact information); 32 declined to participate; and 3 were excluded for other reasons, leaving 868 as the final sample.
↵† P value based on χ2, analysis of variance, or Kruskal-Wallis test.
↵‡ Assessed by self-report using National Institutes of Health reporting categories for federally funded clinical research.
↵§ Excludes use of alcohol or nicotine.
↵‖ Addiction Severity Index-Lite (ASI) composite scores range from 0 to 1, with 1 indicating greatest problem severity.
↵¶ ASI drug use groups reported are not mutually exclusive.
↵# “Other drugs” can include all other abused medications (eg, antihistamines, antidepressants) or drugs of abuse (eg, hallucinogens, inhalants) not included in the existing categories.
↵** From the Thoughts about Abstinence measure, which is used to assess one's goal for changing drug use (no goal; controlled use; occasional use; temporary abstinence; total abstinence, slip is possible; total abstinence, never use again). The reported “goal of total abstinence from drugs” includes “total abstinence, never use again” and “total abstinence, slip is possible.”
↵†† Administrative data were available for 848 participants in the 2 years before study enrollment.
↵§§ Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk-taking score ranges from 0 to 50, with 50 indicating greatest HIV risk.
DAST-10, 10-item Drug Abuse Screening Test; SD, standard deviation.