GCATTC Excellence in Epidemiology

Manuals

Assessing Drug Abuse Within and Across Communities

http://www.drugabuse.gov/pubs/assessing/
To help communities understand their local drug abuse problems NIDA developed this guidebook to assist in the development of a drug abuse epidemiologic surveillance systems to assess local drug abuse patterns and trends. This model can be used by states counties cities and communities. It is based on the work of NIDA's Community Epidemiology Work Group (CEWG) a national surveillance network composed of researchers from around the country that has been meeting biannually for more than 20 years to monitor drug use and abuse trends.

Barefoot Epidemiologist

http://www.newmeyer.com/essay_template.php?id=15
This paper by John Newmeyer was written in 1991 and is still an excellent introduction to needs assessment.

National Surveys

Monitoring the Future Survey

http://www.nida.nih.gov/DrugPages/MTF.html
The Monitoring the Future Survey (National School Survey) conducted by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health has tracked 12th graders' illicit drug use and attitudes towards drugs since 1975.

Youth Risk Behavior Survey

http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/index.htm
Conducted by the Center for Disease Control The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) was developed in 1990 to monitor priority health risk behaviors that contribute markedly to the leading causes of death disability and social problems among youth and adults in the United States. To this end the CDC has conducted a number of Youth Risk Behavior Surveys.

National Survey on Drug Use and Health

http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh.htm
SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use & Health [formerly called the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA)] is the primary source of information on the prevalence patterns and consequences of alcohol tobacco and illegal drug use and abuse in the general U.S. civilian non institutionalized population age 12 and older. It is currently conducted by SAMHSA's Office of Applied Studies (OAS).

The National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS)

http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/dasis.htm#nssats2
N-SSATS is an annual survey of all substance abuse treatment facilities in the I-SATS that collects information on location characteristics services offered and utilization. The N-SSATS includes a periodic survey of substance abuse treatment in adult and juvenile correctional facilities. Before 2000 the N-SSATS was known as the Uniform Facility Data Set (UFDS).

Examples of Local Epidemiological Reports

Community Epidemiology Work Group (CEWG) City Reports

http://www.nida.nih.gov/about/organization/CEWG/reports.htm

Sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) CEWG reports are given at biannual meetings at which the network members discuss current and emerging problems of substance abuse across the U.S. At the meetings CEWG members present data on drug abuse from a variety of city state federal and other sources.

State and City Profiles

http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/statelocal/state_and_city_profiles.htmlThe Office of National Drug Control Policy maintains state and city profiles of drug abuse indicators.

Substance Abuse Trends in Texas

http://www.utexas.edu/research/cswr/gcattc/drugtrends.html
Published by the Gulf Coast Addiction Technology Transfer Center Center for Excellence in Drug Epidemiology located in the School of Social Work Research at the University of Texas at Austin this biannual report features drug trends in Texas.

Archived Publications from TCADA

SPECIAL POPULATIONS

An Ethnographic Comparison of the Mexican American Drug Culture in El Paso, Texas:1987 to 1997

An Ethnographic Study of Heroin Abuse by Mexican Americans in San Antonio, Texas

Fry: A Study of Adolescents Use of Embalming Fluid with Marijuana and Tobacco

Leaning on syrup: The misuse of opioid cough syrup in Houston

The Rave Scene in Houston, Texas: An Ethnographic Analysis

Volatile Substance Abuse Among the Kickapoo People in the Eagle Pass, Texas
Area, 1993

DWI Recidivism in Texas: 1985-1988

DWI Recidivism in Texas: 1987-1990

Understanding Inhalant Users

An Ethnographic Study of Mexican American Inhalant Abusers in San Antonio, Texas