Public-use NSDUH files do not include state-level identifiers. The Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) does not publicly release certain data, including state-level identifiers. Federal law requires SAMHSA to protect the confidentiality of individual respondents. For this reason, state codes are not placed on NSDUH public-use files. SAMHSA does release tables at the state and sub-state levels. A limited number of estimates are also available for the 20 largest metropolitan areas.
SAMHSA has made access to restricted-use NSDUH data available through the Restricted-use Data Analysis System (R-DAS). Through the R-DAS, researchers can now work with state-level variables to produce frequencies and crosstabulations using the restricted-use NSDUH data files. Learn more about the R-DAS.
Finally, the Data Portal provides researchers with off-site access to individual record level data, including state and substate variables. For access to confidential CBHSQ data through the Data Portal, researchers are required to submit a research proposal for approval and sign a contract (data use agreement). For approved projects, a researcher downloads software onto their computer that allows them to access servers where the confidential data reside. The researcher can then log into the server remotely and open a virtual desktop to access the confidential data using SAS, SPSS, or Stata.
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