TEDS comprises data that are routinely collected by States in monitoring their individual substance abuse treatment systems. In general, facilities reporting TEDS data are those that receive State alcohol and/or drug agency funds (including Federal Block Grant funds) for the provision of substance abuse treatment. However, differences in State systems of licensure, certification, accreditation, and disbursement of public funds affect the scope of facilities included in TEDS. Treatment facilities that are operated by private for-profit agencies, hospitals, and the State correctional system, if not licensed through the State substance abuse agency, may be excluded from TEDS. TEDS does not include data on facilities operated by Federal agencies (the Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Defense, and the Veterans Administration).

The data reported below represent the latest full calendar year data available for each State from the TEDS system. Total numbers and percent distribution are reported by sex, age, and race/ethnicity for each of 15 categories of primary substance of abuse.

To view the latest TEDS report online, click here.

Limitations of TEDS data

TEDS is an exceptionally large and powerful data set. Like all data sets, however, care must be taken that interpretation does not extend beyond the limitations of the data. Limitations fall into two broad categories: those related to the scope of the data collection system, and those related to the difficulties of aggregating data from the highly diverse State data collection systems. Limitations to be kept in mind while analyzing TEDS data include:

• TEDS is an admission-based system, and TEDS admissions do not represent individuals. An individual admitted to treatment twice within a calendar year would be counted as two admissions. Most States cannot, for reasons of confidentiality, identify clients with a unique ID assigned at the State level. Consequently TEDS is unable to follow individual clients through a sequence of treatment episodes.

• TEDS attempts to enumerate treatment episodes by distinguishing the initial admission of a client from his/her subsequent transfer to a different service type (for example, from residential treatment to outpatient) within a single continuous treatment episode. However, States differ greatly in their ability to identify transfers; some can distinguish transfers within providers but not across providers. Some admission records may in fact represent transfers, and therefore the number of admissions reported probably overestimates the number of treatment episodes.

• The number and client mix of TEDS admissions does not represent the total national demand for substance abuse treatment, nor the prevalence of substance abuse in the general population.

• The primary, secondary, and tertiary substances of abuse reported to TEDS are those substances which led to the treatment episode, and not necessarily a complete enumeration of all drugs used at the time of admission.

• In reporting TEDS data, SAMHSA must balance timeliness of reporting with completeness of the data set. States rely on individual facilities to report in a timely manner. States then bundle the data and report them to SAMHSA at regular intervals. Admissions from facilities that report late to the States may appear in a later data submission to SAMHSA. However, the additional submissions are unlikely to have a significant effect on the percentage distributions that are the basis of these tables.

• States continually review the quality of their data processing. When systematic errors are identified, States may revise or replace historical TEDS data files. TEDS continues to accept data revisions for admissions occurring in the previous five years. While this process represents an improvement in the data, the numbers of admissions reported here may differ slightly from those in earlier or subsequent reports and tables.

Considerations specific to these tables include: