2016-2018 NSDUH Substate Region Shapefile
Description and Downloading Instructions

This shapefile includes geographic boundaries of the 2016-2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) substate regions along with small area estimation (SAE) values (prevalence rates, the map group, and the upper and lower bounds found in the map legends) related to each substate region. It can be used for analysis and data display with Geographic Information System (GIS) software. This shapefile was used to create the "2016-2018 NSDUH National Maps of Prevalence Estimates" document at https://www.samhsa.gov/data/.

Shapefile Components

The shapefile includes the following components:

• "SubstateRegionData161718.prj" contains projection information for the shapefile.
• "SubstateRegionData161718.sbn" contains Part 1 of 2 of the spatial index of features.
• "SubstateRegionData161718.sbx" contains Part 2 of 2 of the spatial index of features.
• "SubstateRegionData161718.shp" contains the feature geometry.
• "SubstateRegionData161718.shx" contains the shape index.
• "SubstateRegionData161718.dbf" contains the attribute table for the shapefile.

To access these shapefile components, click the archived file to download them.

Description of Shapefile Fields

The fields in the shapefile are as follows:

• "FID" is the file's internal unique identifier.
• "Shape" is the file's internal description field.
• "ST_FIPS" is the state's federal information processing standards (FIPS) code.
• "ST_NAME" is the state's name.
• "SR_NAME" is the substate region's name based on the 2016-2018 substate region definitions.
• "Reg_FIP" is the substate region's name with the state's FIPS code (i.e., the region's unique identifier).
• ST is the state abbreviation.

For each outcome, there are four variables on the file:

1. The 2016-2018 small area estimate value is noted by the outcome name (listed below).
2. The map group for each outcome variable is shown with the outcome name followed by "_GP." Its values are 1,…,7, where 1 represents low prevalence and 7 represents high prevalence, except for the five perception of great risk variables, where 1 represents high prevalence and 7 represents low prevalence.
3. The lower bound of the map group is shown with the outcome name followed by "_LO." If a substate region is in map group 3 for a particular outcome, the lower bound shown would be the lower bound given in the map legend for group 3.
4. The upper bound of the map group is shown with the outcome name followed by "_UP." If a substate region is in map group 3, the upper bound shown would be the upper bound given in the map legend for group 3.

The 32 outcome variables, shown as "outcome name: outcome description (age group)," are as follows:

• abodalc: alcohol use disorder in the past year (12 or older),
• alcmon: alcohol use in the past month (12 or older),
• amiyr: any mental illness (AMI) in the past year (18 or older),
• bngdrk: binge alcohol use in the past month (12 or older),
• cigmon: cigarette use in the past month (12 or older),
• cocyr: cocaine use in the past year (12 or older),
• grskbng: perceptions of great risk from having five or more drinks of an alcoholic beverage once or twice a week (12 or older),
• grskcig: perceptions of great risk from smoking one or more packs of cigarettes per day (12 or older),
• grskcoc: perceptions of great risk from using cocaine once a month (12 or older),
• grskher: perceptions of great risk from trying heroin once or twice (12 or older),
• grskmrj: perceptions of great risk from smoking marijuana once a month (12 or older),
• heryr: heroin use in the past year (12 or older),
• illmon: illicit drug use in the past month (12 or older),
• iemmon: illicit drug use other than marijuana in the past month (12 or older),
• inciden: average annual rate of first use of marijuana (12 or older),
• mde: had at least one major depressive episode (MDE) in the past year (18 or older),
• metamyr: methamphetamine use in the past year (12 or older),
• mrjmon: marijuana use in the past month (12 or older),
• mrjyr: marijuana use in the past year (12 or older),
• pnrnmyr: pain reliever misuse in the past year (12 or older),
• smiyr: serious mental illness (SMI) in the past year (18 or older),
• suithyr: serious thoughts of suicide in the past year (18 or older),
• tobmon: tobacco product use in the past month (12 or older),
• txnospa: needing but not receiving treatment at a specialty facility for alcohol use in the past year (12 or older),
• txnospi: needing but not receiving treatment at a specialty facility for illicit drug use in the past year (12 or older),
• txnpila: needing but not receiving treatment at a specialty facility for substance use in the past year (12 or older),
• txrec3: received mental health services in the past year (18 or older),
• udpyila: substance use disorder in the past year (12 or older),
• udpyill: illicit drug use disorder in the past year (12 or older),
• udpypnr: pain reliever use disorder in the past year (12 or older),
• ualcmon: underage past month use of alcohol (12 to 20), and
• ubngdrk: underage past month binge alcohol use (12 to 20),

Shapefile Values for a Substate Region: An Example

As an example of an observation in the shapefile, Region 1 in Alabama would have the following values:

ST_FIPS=01, ST_NAME=Alabama, SR_NAME=Region 1, REG_FIP=Region 1_01, ST=AL, ABODALC=4.4, ABODALC_GP=2, ABODALC_LO=4.13, ABODALC_UP=4.61, …, UBNGDRK=10.13, UBNGDRK_GP=3, UBNGDRK_LO=9.11, UBNGDRK_UP=10.68

These shapefile values can be interpreted as follows:

• the prevalence of alcohol use disorder in the past year (abodalc) for Region 1 in Alabama for the 12 or older age group is 4.4 percent (ABODALC=4.4);
• for abodalc, Region 1 is in map group 2 (ABODALC_GP=2);
• the lower bound for abodalc map group 2 is 4.13 percent (ABODALC_LO=4.13);
• the upper bound for abodalc map group 2 is 4.61 percent (ABODALC_UP=4.61); and
• so on in a similar fashion for the remaining outcomes and regions.