Attachment I,J, K

Attachment I
Question and Answer Brochure

What Is the National Survey on
Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)?

:

National
Survey on
Drug Use
and Health

For more information on
NSDUH or SAMHSA, contact:
NSDUH National Study Director
SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral
Health Statistics and Quality
1 Choke Cherry Road
Room 7-1009
Rockville, MD 20857
For more information on
NSDUH or RTI, contact:
NSDUH National Field Director
Research Triangle Institute
3040 Cornwallis Road
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
1-800-848-4079

Internet Users: You may access more
information about SAMHSA on the World Wide
Web at:
http://www.samhsa.gov

Answering Your Important Questions

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health
(NSDUH) is the Federal Government's primary
source of national data on the use of alcohol,
tobacco, and illicit substances. The survey also
contains questions on health, illegal behaviors,
and other topics associated with substance use.
The study was initiated in 1971 and currently is
conducted on an annual basis. This year
approximately 70,000 individuals, 12 years old
and older, will be randomly selected and asked
to voluntarily participate.

Why Should I Participate?
■

NSDUH is the primary source of
national data on the use of
alcohol, tobacco, and illicit
substances. By volunteering in
this study, you are helping us
gather this important information
that is needed to make accurate
policy decisions.

■

Individual residents of selected
households, who are randomly
chosen and agree to participate,
are given a cash payment of $30 at
the end of the interview.

■

If selected to participate, you will
represent over 4,500 other United
States residents. Since our sample
is selected based on scientific
random sampling, no other
household or person can be
substituted.

■

By participating in this study, you
will be assisting with the
formation of public policy.

The primary objectives of NSDUH are:
■ to collect timely data on the
magnitude and patterns of alcohol,
tobacco, and illegal substance use
and abuse;
■ to assess the consequences of
substance use and abuse; and
■ to identify those groups at high risk
for substance use and abuse.

Additional information about RTI is available at:
http://www.rti.org
Additional information about the National
Survey on Drug Use and Health is available at:
Sponsored by

http://nsduhweb.rti.org

Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration
U.S. Public Health Service
V.1.11

U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services

Conducted by
Research Triangle Institute
3040 Cornwallis Road
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Answering Your Important Questions about the

What is the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA)?
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA) is an agency of the U.S.
Public Health Service in the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (DHHS). SAMHSA
was created in 1992 to provide leadership and a
Federal focus for the Nation’s mental health and
substance abuse treatment and prevention
programs. NSDUH is used to help facilitate this
mission by monitoring the nature and extent of
substance use in the United States, as well as
the consequences of this use.

How Was I Selected?
A scientific random sample of households is
selected throughout the United States. Once
selected, no other residence can be substituted
for any reason. A professional RTI interviewer
makes a personal visit to each household to ask
several initial questions. One or possibly two
residents of your household may be asked to
voluntarily participate in the survey. If you are
selected, no other person can be substituted.
Since the survey is based on a random sample,
you will represent over 4,500 other United States
residents.

What if I Do Not Smoke, Drink or
Use Illegal Drugs?

What Happens to My
Information?

In order to know the percentage of people who
do use these substances, we also have to know
how many people do not. Therefore, the
responses of people who do not use drugs are
just as important as those of people who do. You
do not need to know anything about drugs to
answer the questions. In addition, we ask a
number of health-related questions that are
relevant for all people.

Each computerized interview data file—which
is identified only by a code number—is
electronically transmitted to RTI on the same
day the interview is conducted. The answers
then are combined with all other participants’
answers, and are coded, totaled, and turned
into statistics for analysis. As a quality-control
measure, you may receive a telephone call or a
letter from RTI to verify that the interviewer
did complete the survey with you.

How Is the Study Administered?

How Does the Government
Conduct the Study?
Under a competitive bidding process,
SAMHSA selects a survey research organization
to administer NSDUH. Currently, Research
Triangle Institute (RTI) is under contract to
conduct NSDUH through 2013. RTI, which is
located in Research Triangle Park, North
Carolina, and closely associated with the
University of North Carolina, Duke University,
and North Carolina State University, is a large,
experienced research organization that has
conducted NSDUH since 1988.

National Survey on Drug Use and Health

How Will the Data Be Used?
Government agencies, private organizations,
individual researchers, and the public at large
use the data for a number of purposes. For
example, the U.S. Public Health Service and
state health agencies use data from NSDUH to
estimate the need for drug treatment facilities.
Other federal, state, and local agencies use the
information to support their drug use prevention
programs and to monitor drug control strategies.

NSDUH data are collected in the privacy of the
participant’s home. A professional RTI
interviewer personally visits each selected
household to administer the
NSDUH questionnaire using a
laptop computer. For some
items, the interviewer reads
questions and enters the
responses into the computer;
however, the participant privately enters most
responses directly into the computer. The survey
takes approximately 60 minutes to complete.

Will My Answers Be Kept
Confidential?
Both SAMHSA and RTI are committed to
assuring complete confidentiality of responses.
Our interest is only in the combination of all
responses nationwide—not anyone's individual
answers. Your full name is never recorded or
associated with your answers. The information
is only used for statistical purposes and cannot
be used for any other purpose. Confidentiality
of all answers to questions in this survey is
assured under Federal law, the Confidential
Information Protection and Statistical
Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA). Any project
staff or authorized data user who violates
CIPSEA may be subject to a jail term of up to
5 years, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.

Attachment J
Example of NSDUH Highlights

SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS from the

2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health
Tobacco Use
•

An estimated 69.7 million Americans
reported current use (during the past
month) of a tobacco product in 2009,
which is 27.7 percent of the
population aged 12 and older. About
58.7 million (23.3 percent) smoked
cigarettes.

•

The graph to the right illustrates past
month cigarette use among persons
age 12 or older.

Past Month Cigarette Use among Persons Aged 12 or Older,
by Age: 2009

Alcohol Use
Current Alcohol Use among Persons
Aged12- 20, by Age: 2002-2009
•

Slightly more than half of all
Americans age 12 or older, 51.9
percent or 130.6 million persons,
were current drinkers in the 2009
survey, which is similar to the
129.0 million persons (51.6
percent) reported in 2008.

•

Although consumption of
alcoholic beverages is illegal for
those under 21 years of age,
27.2 percent of this age group
(10.4 million) were current
drinkers in 2009. The graph on
the left displays the current use
of alcohol for 12-20 year olds
from 2002 through 2009.

Illicit Drug Use
•

An estimated 21.8 million Americans were current users of illicit drugs in 2009, meaning
they used an illicit drug at least once during the 30 days prior to the interview. This
estimate represents 8.7 percent of the population 12 years old or older.

•

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug, with an estimated 16.7 million current
users, or 6.6 percent of the population 12 years old or older, an increase from the 2008 rate
of 6.1 percent. Similar to 2008, an estimated 1.6 million persons were current users of
cocaine, while 760,000 currently used Ecstasy, an increase from the 555,000 current
Ecstasy users reported in 2008.

Results from the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings,
DHHS/SAMHSA/CBHSQ, September 2010

Mental Health
•

In 2009, an estimated 14.8 million adults, or 6.5 percent of the population aged 18 or older,
had at least one major depressive episode (MDE) in the past 12 months. Among adults, the
percentage having MDE in the past year varied by age and gender, as shown in the graph
below.
Major Depressive Episode in the Past Year among Adults Aged 18 or Older,
by Age and Gender: 2009

Substance Dependence or Abuse among Adults Aged 18 or Older,
by Major Depressive Episode in the Past Year: 2009
•

Persons with past year MDE
were more likely than those
without MDE to have used an
illicit drug in the past year
(29.5 vs. 13.5 percent).

•

Similarly, substance
dependence or abuse was
more prevalent among
persons with MDE than
among those without MDE
(22.4 vs. 8.2 percent), as
shown in the graph to the
right.

Results from the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Findings,
DHHS/SAMHSA/CBHSQ, 2010

Attachment K
Example of NSDUH Newspaper Clippings

Recent newspaper articles from
USA Today on the
National Survey on
D
Drug
U
Use and
dH
Health
l h
As seen in Thursday, December 9, 2010 print edition

As seen in Friday, September 11, 2009 print edition

“From USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co., Inc. Reprinted with Permission.”

Recent newspaper articles from
USA Today on the
National Survey on
Drug Use and Health
As seen in Thursday, June 4, 2009 online edition

Report: Smoking declines as alcohol, drug use hold steady
By Janice Lloyd, USA TODAY

A new reportt on substance
b t
abuse
b
and
d mental
t lh
health
lth
shows a small percentage of people are kicking smoking
while alcohol and illicit drug-use levels remain steady.

W ' painfully
We're
i f ll aware off the
th problem,"
bl
" said
id Teresa
T
Mace,
M
media director of West Virginia's Office of Community
Health Systems and Health Promotion.

But the report from the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration, out Thursday, also
carries home the message that while all states have
problems, there are big variations across the U.S. For
instance the rate of illicit drug use in Iowa (5
instance,
(5.2%)
2%) among
the 12 and older set is less than half what it is in Rhode
Island (12.5%).

"We have a state tobacco quit line and other kinds of
cessation programs that are offered to all West
Virginians. We've gotten a lot better at getting our
message to the people who need to know but it's hard to
match the amounts spent by the tobacco industry.
industry "

Many of the trends are similar to past studies, according
to Art Hughes, one of the report's lead statisticians, but
he cited "the adverse relationship between (perception of)
risk of use and use itself" as worthy of examining at the
state level
level.
In states where people reported having a perception of
great risk about substance abuse, the problem is more
often reported at lower levels than in states where risk is
not as great a concern, according to the study, based on
the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health. The 20062007 interview data is collected from 135,672 persons and
is compared to the 2005-2006 data
data. Smoking declined
from 24.96% to 24.63% with the greatest decrease among
12 to 25 year olds.

Colorado is the only state showing an increase in tobacco
use (from 26.5% to 29.8%) while seven states had
declines: Idaho, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New
York, Utah and West Virginia. The Northeast region had
a decrease as well (from 28.1% to 27.1%). Overall,
national rates changed only slightly (24.6%) from the
2005 2006 report (25%).
2005-2006
(25%)
Alcohol still leads tobacco as the most commonly used
substance. The perceived risk associated with binge
drinking (having five or more drinks once or twice a
week) also played a role in levels of drinking and binge
drinking among underage drinkers. North Dakota, which
ranked highest in both categories, ranked a lowly 47th
among states in perception of risk.
risk
Drinking for the group of people over the age of 12 had
similar results. New Hampshire, which ranked No. 3
behind Rhode Island and Connecticut, had the lowest
percentage (33.21%) of perception of risk. Rhode Island
and Connecticut also ranked among the lowest 10.

"Cigarette use continues to decline," says Hughes. "One
statistic we use to try to gauge is the (perceived) risk of
smoking cigarettes. If people think it's risky to use
cigarettes, we tend to see an opposite effect happening."
"We produce this as a reference document for the states,"
For instance,
instance California is among the states with highest
J Gfroerer,
Gf
director
di t off the
th division
di i i off population
l ti
says Joe
percentage of people who regard smoking as a health
surveys. "It can lead to more in-depth analysis and
hazard (77.35%) and had the second lowest smoking rate
discussion about whether programs within the states can
(19.79%) behind Utah (17.51%). Utah's perception of risk
help with problems."
was slightly lower (76.93%) than California's.
Rhode Island had the highest percentage of persons aged
Nationwide, a slight drop was recorded compared to
2005-2006 (74.14% vs 73.86%). West Virginia, on the other 12 or older who were needing but not receiving
treatment for illicit drug use. The other states that ranked
hand, has the highest
g
rate of cigarette
g
users of all states
highest
for needing but not receiving treatment for
(31.10%) for people aged 12 and older and has the lowest
alcohol
problems
were mostly midwestern (Iowa,
perception of risk level associated with smoking
Minnesota,
North
Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin)
(67.88%). Oklahoma and Tennessee, which ranked No. 2
or
westerm
(Colorado,
Montana and Wyoming.) The
and 3 behind West Virginia for percentages of smokers,
District
of
Columbia
and
Massachusetts are in the top 10.
were also among states with lowest perception of risk.
Article available online at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-06-04-drugs-alcohol-abuse_N.htm
“From USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co., Inc. Reprinted with Permission.”