Asians in the United States: Substance dependence and use of substance-dependence treatment

Joseph T. Sakai, P. Michael Ho, Jay H. Shore, Nathan K. Risk, Rumi Kato Price

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

Clinicians have often observed that Asians are unlikely to utilize substance-dependence treatment services but few have reported empirical data examining this phenomenon. This study used data from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 2000-2002, and tested whether Asians in the United States have relatively low rates of drug and alcohol dependence and whether substance-dependent Asians use treatment services less than Caucasians. Subsequent analyses were undertaken to identify factors that explained these racial differences. Of the 5,118 Asians, 159 met criteria for past-year drug or alcohol dependence. Asians with past-year substance dependence were significantly less likely than substance-dependent Caucasians to report past-year treatment (odds ratio 0.42, 95% confidence interval 0.19-0.96). Differences in past-year substance-dependence prevalence appear to be partially explained by between-group differences in ever using substances; differences in past-year treatment use appear to be in part related to differences in levels of acculturation and education.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)75-84
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Substance Abuse Treatment
Volume29
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2005

Keywords

  • Alcohol dependence
  • Asian
  • Drug dependence
  • Race
  • Treatment utilization

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