The severity index: An indicator of alcohol and drug dependence using administrative data

Yael Caspi, Winston M. Turner, Lee Panas, Dennis McCarty, David R. Gastfriend

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Administrative data systems are a valuable resource for health care services research, especially in the assessment of treatment services for alcohol and drug dependence. However, clinical and diagnostic indicators are commonly not collected. The current report describes the development of a composite measure of substance abuse severity from items routinely recorded by publicly funded alcohol and drug abuse treatment services. Designed to capture varying patterns of substance use, the Severity Index can be readily calculated, interpreted and applied by health care providers as part of routine clinical care. To determine its validity, the performance of the Severity Index, was tested against the Addiction Severity Index (ASI), a well-researched measure of substance abuse severity.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)49-64
Number of pages16
JournalAlcoholism Treatment Quarterly
Volume19
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2001
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Addiction Severity Index (ASI)
  • Administrative data
  • Substance abuse severity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Medicine (miscellaneous)
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The severity index: An indicator of alcohol and drug dependence using administrative data'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this