Services Research Outcomes Study (SROS)

METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

The SROS interviewed 1,799 discharged clients randomly selected from a 1990 nationally representative sample of drug treatment programs, including hospital inpatient, residential, outpatient methadone, and outpatient nonmethadone. By comparing self-reported status (validated by urine tests) during the five years before treatment to the five years after treatment, an individual’s change in drug use, health status, and social functioning was determined. Agreement between urinalysis and self-reported use of illicit drugs was high ranging from 89.7 to 98.5 percent. These changes, or outcomes, are the first to derive from a nationally representative sample of treatment. The SROS was designed to provide: (1) a 1990-cohort of clients to use as baseline for possible changes in treatment outcomes following increased funding to the national treatment system in the 1990s; (2) a before-to-after comparison to measure outcomes of treatment provided in 1990; (3) a follow up of drug treatment clients five years after treatment to assess the level of sustained improvements in abstinence; and (4) a first look at multiple treatment episodes before and after treatment in a 1990 population. Detailed information about how the study was conducted is contained in the full report.

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