State policies and availability of infection-related services in substance abuse treatment programs — Connected at the hip?
This presentation describes the design, objectives, procedures, and outcomes of one facet of protocol CTN-0012 (“Characteristics of Screening, Evaluation, and Treatment of HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C Viral Infections, and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Substance Abuse Treatment Programs”). The protocol examined the associations between HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C (HCV), and sexually transmitted infection (STI)-related services provided by substance abuse treatment programs in the National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network (NIDA CTN), and the states within which they are located.
This presentation focuses on exploring the data from CTN-0012 as it pertains specifically to the relationships between state policies and the availability of services. Data for this report was derived from two surveys: one for substance abuse treatment program administrators, and one for state health and substance abuse department administrators. The surveys included a cross-sectional, descriptive survey of eight infection-related services: provider education, patient education, risk assessment, history and physical exam, biological testing, counseling, treatment and monitoring in the context of treatment program structure, setting, and staffing. 265 of 313 (86%) substance abuse treatment program administrators responded from 95 agencies in the NIDA CTN, covering 26 states and the District of Columbia. Six of eight services were provided by a similar percentage of substance abuse programs regardless of state mandates, whereas two services (treatment and monitoring) were provided by a substantially higher percentage of sites where it was state mandated. Analysis of the data determined that there was variation in the percentage of programs offering the various services for a particular infection group, whether state mandated or not. However, there was consistency in the percentage of programs offering a particular service for all three infection groups, whether state mandated or not. This information can be used to inform public policy to encourage “best practices” in treating these epidemic infections.
Related protocols: CTN-0012