Table 4.
Perceived barriers to treatment among adults with a lifetime DSM-IV drug use disorder and perceived unmet need for treatment
| Drug Use Treatment Barrier | Overall (N = 511) % (SE) |
White (N = 310) % (SE) |
Black (N = 107) % (SE) |
Hispanic (N = 94) % (SE) |
χ2 (p) |
| Thought should be strong enough to handle alone | 41.65 (2.69) | 42.09 (3.25) | 43.12 (5.76) | 36.44 (7.63) | .47 (.793) |
| Thought the problem would get better by itself | 37.21 (2.82) | 36.56 (3.43) | 40.90 (5.79) | 36.96 (7.91) | .44 (.804) |
| Was too embarrassed to discuss it with anyone | 25.80 (2.38) | 24.79 (2.85) | 32.66 (5.39) | 23.81 (6.70) | 1.65 (.444) |
| Couldn't afford to pay the bill | 20.77 (2.31) | 21.08 (2.68) | 20.13 (5.57) | 19.34 (5.67) | .08 (.963) |
| Didn't want to go | 20.72 (2.07) | 21.81 (2.58) | 17.74 (4.53) | 16.78 (5.48) | .99 (.612) |
| Stopped using a drug or medicine on my own | 18.46 (1.87) | 19.49 (2.25) | 15.63 (4.13) | 14.79 (5.11) | 1.21 (.549) |
| Afraid of what boss, family, friends or others might think | 18.35 (2.36) | 18.88 (2.94) | 14.10 (4.35) | 20.26 (6.18) | 1.02 (.602) |
| Hated answering personal questions | 17.35 (1.90) | 16.20 (2.35) | 22.94 (5.12) | 18.18 (5.79) | 1.42 (.495) |
| Didn't think anything could help | 16.71 (1.98) | 17.56 (2.56) | 13.94 (3.70) | 14.25 (4.15) | .96 (.620) |
| Didn't think medicine or drug problem was serious enough | 16.47 (2.11) | 17.04 (2.55) | 12.74 (3.74) | 17.44 (5.02) | .95 (.624) |
| Wanted to keep using medicine or drug | 15.99 (1.83) | 16.29 (2.32) | 16.89 (4.51) | 12.50 (3.84) | .72 (.698) |
| Afraid they would put me into the hospital | 13.77 (1.95) | 13.94 (2.33) | 13.86 (3.90) | 12.36 (4.64) | .10 (.953) |
| Wanted to go, but health insurance didn't cover | 10.46 (1.61) | 9.74 (1.91) | 9.42 (3.57) | 17.21 (5.25) | 1.80 (.412) |
| Didn't have the time | 9.92 (1.43) | 8.29 (1.71) | 12.62 (4.53) | 18.21 (6.15) | 3.10 (.220) |
| Didn't know any place to go for help | 8.34 (1.45) | 6.83 (1.63) | 13.29 (3.98) | 12.70 (4.70) | 3.43 (.188) |
| Afraid of the treatment they would give me | 8.21 (1.30) | 6.49 (1.47) | 12.21 (4.13) | 15.37 (5.75) | 3.15 (.215) |
| Family thought I should go, but didn't think it was necessary | 7.00 (1.54) | 6.72 (1.66) | 4.68 (2.24) | 12.20 (5.66) | 1.5 (.478) |
| Tried getting help before and it didn't work | 5.63 (1.09) | 4.64 (1.18) | 9.73 (3.35) | 7.34 (3.80) | .09 (.956) |
| Afraid I would lose my job | 4.83 (1.10)† | 4.72 (1.27) | 4.68 (2.04) | 5.85 (3.57) | - |
| Other reason | 4.66 (1.36) | 3.68 (1.02) | 3.53 (1.29) | 13.44 (10.06) | .82 (.664) |
| Didn't have any way to get there | 4.60 (1.10) | 4.43 (1.31) | 4.08 (1.98) | 6.53 (3.99) | .30 (.850) |
| Friends or family helped me stop using a medicine or drug | 4.27 (.89)† | 4.47 (1.09) | 1.69 (1.03) | 6.34 (3.67) | - |
| Hours were inconvenient | 3.80 (1.17)† | 3.69 (1.37) | 4.11 (3.08) | 4.20 (3.20) | - |
| Had to wait too long to get into program | 3.22 (.91)† | 3.36 (1.14) | 4.42 (1.99) | .52 (.53) | - |
| Couldn't arrange for child care | 1.32 (.48)† | 1.43 (.59) | 1.12 (.84) | .74 (.75) | - |
| A member of my family objected | .52 (.35)† | .11 (.11) | .00 (.00) | 4.31 (3.25) | - |
| Can't speak English very well | .34 (.27)† | .11 (.11) | .00 (.00) | 2.50 (2.49) | - |
Note: †Chi-square tests not performed due to cell counts < 5.