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Survey Shows Most People with Drug Use Disorders Never Get Treatment Right Click to Download MP3 File Brief Description: Transcript: SCHMALFELDT: A study conducted by scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, determined that only eight percent of people identified as drug abusers — and fewer than forty percent of those diagnosed with drug dependence — have ever gotten any kind of intervention or treatment. Dr. Wilson Compton, NIDA's lead author of the study, said there is a clear need for a national public education program to de-stigmatize drug use disorders and to develop approaches to educate physicians and the public about treatment. COMPTON: People will not always volunteer this information so it's important that they ask patients about it. We'd like to encourage what I call the "No Wrong Door" approach to treatment, where if somebody comes in for another behavioral health condition like a psychiatric illness like major depression or bipolar disorder or a serious anxiety disorder, that they get asked carefully about their use of illicit substances, because they do commonly co-occur. SCHMALFELDT: Dr. Compton said the findings emphasize the importance of the detection and referral roles of primary care physicians. He said future research efforts should focus on developing instruments to screen, identify and refer patients with suspected drug abuse or dependence in primary care settings. From the National Institutes of Health, I'm Bill Schmalfeldt in Bethesda, Maryland. |
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This page was last reviewed on May 18, 2007 . |
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