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National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS)

National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), 1998

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Collection Date: 1998-10/1999-06
Time Period: 1998
Versions

2014-12-10: Changed the Stata system data file from version 13 to version 12 for compatibility on a wider range of systems. Also updated codebook to correct the cover page and frequencies section.

Dataset Documentation

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Learn more about where the data comes from, notes on trend comparability, and data limitations on About This Collection

Sample Information

Geographic Coverage
United States and Jurisdictions
Data Types
Survey Data
Universe: Facilities across the United States and jurisdictions, including all active treatment facilities on SAMHSA’s I-BHS and additional facilities provided by state substance use agencies

N-SSATS is a component of SAMHSA’s Behavioral Health Services Information System (BHSIS). The core of BHSIS is the I-BHS, a continuously updated, comprehensive listing of all known substance use treatment facilities and mental health treatment facilities.

Facilities in the I-BHS fall into two categories:

  • Treatment facilities approved by state substance use agencies (16,856 facilities in 2020): Most facilities in the I-BHS are licensed, certified, or otherwise approved by the state substance use agency to provide substance use treatment.
  • Treatment facilities not approved by state substance use agencies (3,070 facilities in 2020): Since the mid-1990s, SAMHSA has worked to make the I-BHS as comprehensive as possible by including treatment facilities that state substance use agencies, for a variety of reasons, do not fund, license, or certify.

As with any data collection effort, limitations must be taken into account when interpreting data from N-SSATS.

  • N-SSATS is a voluntary survey, and while it attempts to obtain responses from all known treatment facilities, some facilities do not respond. The data are not adjusted for facility nonresponse.
  • N-SSATS is a point-prevalence survey. Client counts reported do not represent annual totals. Rather, N-SSATS provides a “snapshot” of substance use treatment facilities and clients on an average day.
  • Multiple responses are allowed for certain variables (e.g., services provided and specialized programs). Tabulations of these variables include the total number of facilities reporting each response.

For methodological information for a particular year or date range, please check the codebook for a specific data set from the sidebar to the right.