Assessment of the National Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network: A Baseline for Investigating Diffusion of Innovation
Dennis McCarty , Ph.D. Lead Investigator Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine Oregon Health and Science University 3181 Southwest Sam Jackson Park Rd., CB-669 Portland, OR 97239 mccartyd@ohsu.edu

The "Baseline Study" is designed to help us better understand the   community treatment programs participating in the NIDA Clinical Trials Network (CTN).  Using a series of surveys, the study will be used to:

• Describe the programs and practitioners delivering drug abuse treatment services within the CTN.
  
• Build a system that can track changes in program and staff characteristics.
  
• Allow treatment program managers to compare their program to others -- both within the CTN and nationwide.
  
• Promote studies of organizational change and the characteristics that predict whether research-based treatment strategies will become part of usual treatment in a program.

The researchers involved in this study understand the importance of a strong partnership between themselves and the treatment programs. This alliance can help the CTN build its own plan for promoting the use of proven, effective and innovative treatment methods.

Primary Findings: The surveys describe 106 corporations (95% response rate) providing drug abuse treatment in 348 treatment units (91% response rate). Most treatment units are not-for-profit and are not affiliated with health care or mental health care organizations and tend to be larger than the modal drug abuse treatment program. In the CTN, hospital-based services are over-represented and programs based in mental health centers are under-represented. The treatment units serve a heterogeneous patient population, and the inpatient, residential, methadone, and outpatient levels of care vary in the services provided.

Primary Outcomes Paper: McCarty D, et al. Treatment programs in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 2008;92:200-207. [more. . .]

	Find publications in the Library about Protocol CTN-0008
	Researchers: Data from this protocol is available from CTN Public Datashare