- Of the discharges for substance abuse treatment reported to SAMHSA's 2003 Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) with known reason for discharge, 28% (226,000) left against professional advice and 44% (361,000) completed treatment. Others were terminated by the facility (9%), transferred to another substance abuse treatment program or facility (11%), or discharged for other reasons (8%)
- Discharges who left against professional advice were more likely than those who completed treatment to have reported opiates (25% vs. 17%) and less likely to have reported alcohol (35% vs. 47%) as the primary substance of abuse.
- Discharges who left against professional advice were more likely than those who completed treatment to have have been in outpatient treatment (52% vs. 46%) or methadone treatment (9% vs. 2%) and less likely to have been in detoxification (25% vs. 30%) or residential treatment (14% vs 20%).
- Discharges who completed substance abuse treatment were more likely than those who left against professional advice to have been referred to treatment by the criminal justice system (39% vs. 29%) and less likely and to have been self or individually referred to treatment (34% vs. 40%).