Office of Applied Studies
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Office of Applied Studies
The Office of Applied Studies (OAS) is an office within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). OAS serves as the primary source of national data on the prevalence, treatment and consequences of drug abuse in the United States. OAS provides the latest available national data on these important areas of interest: 1) alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and other drug abuse, 2) drug-related emergency department episodes and medical examiner cases, and 3) the nation’s substance abuse treatment system.
Three major SAMHSA data collection systems provide this information on a regular basis: the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the Drug and Alcohol Services Information System (DASIS), and the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN).
All data is available from the OAS web site at http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/
OAS History
The Office of Applied Studies was established in October 1992 when the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration (ADAMHA) agency was reorganized into the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). SAMHSA is this country’s lead federal agency to improve access to quality substance abuse, prevention and mental health treatment services.
OAS Mission
OAS serves as SAMHSA’s focal point for collection, analysis and dissemination of data on critical public health issues to assist policymakers, providers and the general public in making decisions of an informed nature regarding the prevention and treatment of mental health and substance use disorders.
What’s Available on OAS Web Site
The OAS Web site provides clickable items in the home page header to make it easier for new users to access content, specifically on “Topics” or “Drugs,” both of which are arranged alphabetically. Other header clickable items include “What’s New,” “Highlights,” “Data,” “Facts,” “FAQ,” “Pubs” (publications), “Mail,” “OAS,” “SAMHSA,” and “Search.”
“Facts,” for example, is a short report series, with the most recent report listed first. OAS releases a short report on selected topics almost every week, according to the Web site, and includes (as of November 2009) such topics as:
• Drugged Driving
• Awareness of Workplace Substance Use Policies and Programs
• Substance Abuse Services and Staffing in Adult Correctional Facilities
• Drug and Alcohol Treatment in Juvenile Correctional Facilities
• Serious Mental Illness Among Adults
• Youth Marijuana Admissions by Race and Ethnicity
• Cigarette Use Among American Indian/Alaska Native Youths
• Alcohol Use Among Veterans
More experienced users can click on the boxes in the left column of the OAS home page to access data pages. These include:
• Latest Data – Contains the most recent national data on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs from OAS surveys, with the date the report was available on the Web.
• OAS Publications - These are national drug abuse statistics on binge drinking, cocaine, drug-related emergency room visits, heroin, marijuana, smoking, special SAMHSA topics and treatment services.
• NHSDA/NSDUH – National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) series – now called National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), annual statistics on smoking, marijuana, drinking, cocaine and other illegal drug use.
• DAWN – Drug Abuse Warning Network, includes 1) drug-related emergency department visits (with estimates for the nation and for 21 major metropolitan areas, 2) drug-related deaths, with profiles of death and drug involvement for approximately 40 metropolitan areas (but no national estimates).
• DASIS – Drug and Alcohol Services Information System series, includes substance abuse treatment service information from the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS/UFDS) and the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS).
• TEDS – Treatment Episode Data Set, data on treatment admissions and discharge.
• N-SSATS – This is data from the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services on facility characteristics and use.
• SAMHDA – On-line data analyses from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archives (SAMHDA), analyzing alcohol, tobacco, drug abuse and treatment data.
• Analytic – This series covers special topics such as drinking and driving, heroin, methamphetamines, substance abuse in the workplace, teenage drinking and mental health, and treatment need.
• Methodology – These are methodological issues on data systems conducted by SAMHSA’s Office of Applied Studies.
• Web Only Reports – As the name implies, these are detailed tables and special reports from OAS surveys that are available on the Web only, and have not been published. Areas covered include drinking, smoking and drug use.
• Treatment Locator – This is a link to SAMHSA’s Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator, a searchable directory with maps, enabling users to find drug and alcohol treatment facilities with the services they need. Includes residential treatment centers, inpatient and outpatient treatment programs for addiction to cocaine, marijuana, heroin and drug and alcohol programs for adolescents and adults.
• OAS Data Systems – Description, public use tapes and on-line analysis.
• Specific Drugs – Includes information on a specific drug of abuse: drug abuse statistics on amphetamines, analgesics, antidepressants, barbiturates, hallucinogens, inhalants, injecting drug use, LSD, methadone, methamphetamine, narcotics, PCP, sedatives, stimulants, tranquilizers and other specific drugs.
• FAQ – Frequently asked questions on OAS statistics, data sources and more.
• Comments – For comments, questions or requesting specific OAS publications on drug abuse, or to get on publications mailing list.
The OAS home page also contains links to numerous reports, but users can click on “What’s New” in the header to access the full list of OAS reports. Also on the home page are clickable items covering the top queries on substance abuse and mental health, analysis of OAS data, SAMHSA’s Office of Applied Studies (history, mission, etc.), and other services.
OAS Help
Help is available from a tab on the bottom of the Web pages. Help topics include:
• How to find treatment services
• Using the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator
• Finding reports and data:
o By topic
o By drug
o By OAS system
o Latest report
o Highlight
o Fact sheets
o Data
o Publication series
o By SAMHSA matrix of priorities
o By SAMHSA search engine (also through “Search” on the OAS home page header)
• For the general public
• For researchers
• Media resources
• OAS help desk
• Finding information on SAMHSA grants
• FAQs
• Analyzing public use files
--Suzannekane 19:57, 23 November 2009 (UTC)
