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Analysis of Substance Use Disorder Treatment Admissions in the US by Sex and Race and Ethnicity Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Educational Objective
To identify the key insights or developments described in this article

1 Credit CME

JAMA Network Open

Published Online: September 22, 2022

Research Letter

Article Information and Disclosures

Jonathan H. Cantor, PhD¹;

Christopher M. Whaley, PhD²;

Bradley D. Stein, MD, PhD³;

David Powell, PhD¹

Author Affiliations

¹Department of Healthcare Delivery, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, California
²Department of Healthcare Delivery, RAND Corporation, San Francisco, California
³Department of Healthcare Delivery, RAND Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increases in the number of fatal drug overdoses¹ and self-reported substance use disorder (SUD).² Despite these increases, few studies have examined SUD treatment admissions during the pandemic, with studies focusing on state-specific estimates³ or inferring use through national mobility data.⁴ To more comprehensively examine the surge in drug overdose deaths, we quantified changes in national SUD treatment before (2017-2019) and during (2020) the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Article Information

Accepted for Publication: July 26, 2022.

Published: September 22, 2022. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.32795

Open Access: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC-BY License. © 2022 Cantor JH et al. JAMA Network Open.

Corresponding Author: Jonathan H. Cantor, PhD, Department of Healthcare Delivery, RAND Corporation, 1776 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90401 (jcantor@rand.org).

Author Contributions: Dr Cantor had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Concept and design: Cantor, Whaley.

Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: All authors.

Drafting of the manuscript: Cantor.

Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: All authors.

Statistical analysis: Cantor, Whaley.

Obtained funding: Powell.

Administrative, technical, or material support: Whaley.

Supervision: Powell.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Whaley reported receiving grants from the National Institute on Aging, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Arnold Ventures during the conduct of the study, personal fees for speaking and consulting from Doximity outside the submitted work. Dr Stein reported receiving grants from the National Institutes of Health during the conduct of the study and grants from the National Institutes of Health and the FORE Foundation outside the submitted work. Dr Powell reported receiving grants from the CDC and the National Institute on Drug Abuse outside the submitted work.

Funding/Support: Support was provided by the CDC (grant R01CE02999, Dr Powell), National Institute on Aging (grant K01AG061274, Dr Whaley), and the National Institute of Drug Abuse (grant 5R01DA045800-04, Dr Stein).

Role of the Funder/Sponsor: The funding organizations had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Additional Contributions: We thank Aaron Kofner, MA, MSc (RAND Corporation), for analytic support; there was no financial compensation.

References

Friedman JR , Hansen H . Evaluation of increases in drug overdose mortality rates in the US by race and ethnicity before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA Psychiatry. 2022;79(4):379-381. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.0004 PubMed Google Scholar Crossref

Czeisler MÉ , Lane RI , Petrosky E , et al. Mental health, substance use, and suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic - United States, June 24-30, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69(32):1049-1057. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6932a1 PubMed Google Scholar Crossref

Mark TL , Gibbons B , Barnosky A , Padwa H , Joshi V . Changes in admissions to specialty addiction treatment facilities in California during the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(7):e2117029. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.17029 PubMed Google Scholar Crossref

Cantor J , Kravitz D , Sorbero M , et al. Trends in visits to substance use disorder treatment facilities in 2020. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2021;127:108462. doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108462 PubMed Google Scholar Crossref

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Quick Statistics. treatment episode data set. 2022. Accessed April 1, 2022. https://www.samhsa.gov/data/quick-statistics-results?qs_type=teds&state=United%20States&year=2020&type=Admissions&view=full

Andraka-Christou B , Bouskill K , Haffajee RL , et al. Common themes in early state policy responses to substance use disorder treatment during COVID-19. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2021;47(4):486-496. doi:10.1080/00952990.2021.1903023 PubMed Google Scholar Crossref

AMA CME Accreditation Information

Credit Designation Statement: The American Medical Association designates this Journal-based CME activity activity for a maximum of 1.00  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to:

1.00 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;;
1.00 Self-Assessment points in the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery’s (ABOHNS) Continuing Certification program;
1.00 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;
1.00 Lifelong Learning points in the American Board of Pathology’s (ABPath) Continuing Certification program; and
1.00 CME points in the American Board of Surgery’s (ABS) Continuing Certification program

It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting MOC credit.