Services Research Outcomes Study (SROS)

Part 1 is the facility director interviews and covered topics such as facility staff and organization, revenue and charges, staff hours and compensation, costs, and program characteristics.

Part 2 is the client records abstractions data, which examined the client records of 2,222 individuals discharged during 1989–1990. Information was abstracted on demographic characteristics of clients, criminal justice involvement, medical conditions, drug history including intravenous drug use, urine test results, drug treatment history, treatment services, and discharge and billing information.

Part 3 consists of the client follow-up interviews and was conducted during 1995 and 1996. This part covered the clients' entire lifespan, with special attention to their behavior and circumstances during the five years before entry to the index (SROS) treatment in 1989–1990 and after leaving that treatment until the time of the interview. Additional questions were asked on patterns of alcohol and drug consumption, criminal activity, employment, health, social support, and other behavior relevant to treatment goals. Drugs included cocaine, crack, heroin, nontreatment methadone, other opiates/synthetics, barbiturates, benzodiazepine, other sedatives/hypnotics, methamphetamines, other amphetamines, marijuana/hash/THC, PCP/LSD, other hallucinogens, inhalants, over-the-counter medications, and alcohol.

This study was produced by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) in Chicago, IL.

A representative probability sample was drawn from a comprehensive list of organized substance use treatment programs for the Drug Services Research Study (DSRS). DSRS collected basic facility-level information and in Phase II successfully abstracted 2,222 client records of individuals discharged during 1989–1990 from 120 randomly selected, cooperating treatment facilities. Program types included hospital inpatient, residential, outpatient methadone, and outpatient non-methadone.

SROS was designed as a client outcome study based on the DSRS program sample, and 99 of the original 120 treatment facilities participated in SROS (82.5 percent). Two client samples were used:

• The 1,706 clients discharged from these 99 Phase II DSRS facilities in the 12 months ending August 31, 1990, whose client records were abstracted for the DSRS, and
• A supplemental sample of 1,341 clients discharged in the same time frame from the 99 facilities. A total of 1,799 interviews were completed, for a client response rate of 59 percent.

For specific methodological information, please check the codebook for a specific data set from the sidebar to the right.