Alcohol Treatment in the United States: Age Groups and Demographic Characteristics

Updated: 2023

Prevalence of Any Past-Year Alcohol Use Treatment

People Ages 12 and Older

According to the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 1.4 million people ages 12 and older who had alcohol use disorder (AUD) in the past year (4.6% of people with past-year AUD in this age group) received any alcohol use treatment in the past year.1 This includes:

  • 943,000 males ages 12 and older (5.6% of males with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 430,000 females ages 12 and older (3% of females with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 802,000 White people ages 12 and older (4.2% of White people with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 266,000 Black or African American people ages 12 and older (7.5% of Black or African American people with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 43,000 American Indian or Alaska Native people ages 12 and older (15.9% of American Indian or Alaska Native people with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 8,000 Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander people ages 12 and older (5.3% of Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander people with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 4,000 Asian people ages 12 and older (0.4% of Asian people with past-year AUD in this age group) 1
  • 55,000 people of two or more races ages 12 and older (6.6% of people of two or more races with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 195,000 Hispanic or Latino people ages 12 and older (3.8% of Hispanic or Latino people with past-year AUD in this age group)1

Youth Ages 12 to 17

According to the 2021 NSDUH, 39,000 youth ages 12 to 17 who had AUD in the past year (4.4% with past-year AUD in this age group) received any alcohol use treatment in the past year.1 This includes:

  • 26,000 boys ages 12 to 17 (8.8% of boys with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 13,000 girls ages 12 to 17 (2.2% of girls with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 28,000 White youth ages 12 to 17 (5.4% of White youth with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 3,000 Black or African American youth ages 12 to 17 (6.4% of Black or African American youth with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 2,000 youth of two or more races ages 12 to 17 (9.6% of youth of two or more races with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 6,000 Hispanic or Latino youth ages 12 to 17 (2.6% of Hispanic or Latino youth with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • Estimates for American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and Asian youth ages 12 to 17 were not presented because they were based on a relatively small number of respondents or had a large margin of error.1

Adults Ages 18 and Older

Less than 10% of people with past-year alcohol use disorder receive any treatment. Source: 2021 NSDUH. Learn more at RethinkingDrinking.niaaa.nih.gov.

According to the 2021 NSDUH, 1.3 million adults ages 18 and older who had AUD in the past year (4.6% of those with past-year AUD in this age group) received any alcohol use treatment in the past year.1 This includes:

  • 917,000 men ages 18 and older (5.6% of those with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 417,000 women ages 18 and older (3.4% of those with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 774,000 White adults ages 18 and older (4.2% of those with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 263,000 Black or African American adults ages 18 and older (7.5% of those with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 43,000 American Indian or Alaska Native adults ages 18 and older (16.6% of those with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 8,000 Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander adults ages 18 and older (6.3% of those with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 4,000 Asian adults ages 18 and older (0.4% of those with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 53,000 adults of two or more races ages 18 and older (6.5% of those with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • 188,000 Hispanic or Latino adults ages 18 and older (3.8% of those with past-year AUD in this age group)1
  • Among an estimated 14.1 million adults with past-year AUD in 2019, only 1.6% (or 223,000 persons) used evidence-based medications for treating AUD.2
  • People with AUD were more likely to seek care from a primary care provider for an alcohol-related medical problem rather than specifically for drinking too much alcohol.3,4
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), caution should be used when comparing estimates from the 2020 and 2021 NSDUH to those from prior years due to methodological changes. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, data for NSDUH were collected during in-home visits, using computer-assisted techniques. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a delay in data collection during 2020 and the introduction of web-based data collection, with very limited in-person data collection. Because these changes in data collection coincided with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and any related behavioral or mental health changes, we cannot fully separate the effects of methodological changes from true changes in the outcomes. Please see the Methodological Summary and Definitions [PDF – 4 MB] for more information.

References

  1. Population prevalence estimates (%) are weighted by the person-level analysis weight and derived from the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ). 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH-2021-DS0001) public use data file, defining “any treatment” as treatment or counseling designed to help reduce or stop alcohol use, including detoxification and any other treatment for medical problems associated with alcohol use, as well as defining AUD as having met two or more of the 11 AUD diagnostic criteria according to the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. SAMHSA, CBHSQ. 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH-2021-DS0001). Public use files. [cited 2023 Feb 28]. Available from: https://www.datafiles.samhsa.gov/dataset/national-survey-drug-use-and-health-2021-nsduh-2021-ds0001.
  2. Han B, Jones CM, Einstein EB, Powell PA, Compton WM. Use of medications for alcohol use disorder in the US: results from the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. JAMA Psychiatry. 2021;78(8):922-24. PubMed PMID: 34132744
  3. Rehm J, Anderson P, Manthey J, Shield KD, Struzzo P, Wojnar M, Gual A. Alcohol use disorders in primary health care: what do we know and where do we go? Alcohol Alcohol. 2016;51(4):422-7. PubMed PMID: 26574600
  4. O’Connor PG, Nyquist JG, McLellan AT. Integrating addiction medicine into graduate medical education in primary care: the time has come. Ann Intern Med. 2011;154(1):56-9. PubMed PMID: 21200039
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