Racial-ethnic differences in referral source, diagnosis, and length of stay in inpatient substance abuse treatment.

Objective: Racial-ethnic differences in referral source, diagnosis, and length of stay in substance abuse treatment were examined.

Methods: Data from 495 African Americans, 492 Hispanics, and 497 non-Hispanic whites were analyzed.

Results: Hispanics were less likely than whites to be referred by crisis services; African Americans were more likely than other groups to be referred from criminal justice settings. At admission Hispanics and African Americans were more likely to have a drug use disorder, and whites were more likely to have an alcohol use disorder. Both African Americans and Hispanics were more likely than whites to have a cluster B personality disorder diagnosis at discharge. African Americans had longer stays than other groups.

Conclusions: The findings could be used to design interventions to reduce disparities in inpatient substance abuse treatment.