NCJ Number
189314
Date Published
August 1999
Length
133 pages
Annotation
The primary objective of the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) is to measure the prevalence of use of illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco products, as well as the nonmedical use of prescriptions drugs in the United States.
Abstract
The NHSDA is based on a stratified, multistage area probability sample. Survey data were collected through personal visits to each selected residence. Drug use prevalence data were presented for each gender; four major age groups (12 to 17, 18 to 25, 26 to 34, and 35 years or older); three major mutually exclusive racial/ethnic groups, based on respondents’ self-classifications (Hispanic in origin, regardless of race; white, not of Hispanic origin; and Black, not Hispanic origin); and four geographic regions. Tales were presented separately for the total population, whites, Hispanics, Blacks, and geographic region. The four U.S. Bureau of the Census regions were Northeast, North Central, South, and West. For each drug, eight tables were arranged to facilitate group comparisons. Data for the estimated numbers of users in subgroups are arranged in rows and presented by gender for each of four age groups. Data in the remaining seven tables for each racial/ethnic or regional subgroup are presented first by age, then by gender, and finally for the total population. Other than presenting results by age group and other basic demographic characteristics, no attempt was made in this report to control for potentially confounding factors that might help explain any associations observed. 7 footnotes and 22 tables.