TY - JOUR
T1 - Criminal justice measures for economic data harmonization in substance use disorder research
AU - McCollister, Kathryn E.
AU - Yang, Xuan
AU - Murphy, Sean M.
AU - Leff, Jared A.
AU - Kronmal, Richard A.
AU - Crane, Heidi M.
AU - Chandler, Redonna K.
AU - Taxman, Faye S.
AU - Feaster, Daniel J.
AU - Metsch, Lisa R.
AU - Cunningham, William E.
AU - Altice, Frederick L.
AU - Schackman, Bruce R.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the research teams associated with the Seek, Test, Treat, and Retain Data Collection and Harmonization Initiative whose collaboration has made this project possible. We would also like to acknowledge Ashley A. Eggman, MS, for research support, and Yih-Ing Hser, PhD, for comments on an earlier manuscript draft. This study was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (P30DA040500; R21DA044378). Analyses were supported through a cooperative agreement to the University of Washington (5U01DA037702). The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The content of this article is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies or the U.S. government. Portions of this paper were presented at the 2017 Addiction Health Services Research conference in Madison, Wisconsin.
Funding Information:
Supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (P30DA040500, R21DA044378).
PY - 2018/9/21
Y1 - 2018/9/21
N2 - Background: The consequences of substance use disorders (SUDs) are varied and broad, affecting many sectors of society and the economy. Economic evaluation translates these consequences into dollars to examine the net economic impact of interventions for SUD, and associated conditions such as HCV and HIV. The nexus between substance use and crime makes criminal justice outcomes particularly significant for estimating the economic impact of SUD interventions, and important for data harmonization. Methods: We compared baseline data collected in six NIDA-funded Seek, Test, Treat and Retain (STTR) intervention studies that enrolled HIV-infected/at-risk individuals with SUDs (total n = 3415). Criminal justice measures included contacts with the criminal justice system (e.g., arrests) and criminal offenses. The objective was to develop a list of recommended measures and methods supporting economic data harmonization opportunities in HIV and SUD research, with an initial focus on crime-related outcomes. Results: Criminal justice contacts and criminal offenses were highly variable across studies. When measures grouped by offense classifications were compared, consistencies across studies emerged. Most individuals report being arrested for property or public order crimes (> 50%); the most commonly reported offenses were prostitution/pimping, larceny/shoplifting, robbery, and household burglary. Conclusions: We identified four measures that are feasible and appropriate for estimating the economic consequences of SUDs/HIV/HCV: number of arrests, number of convictions, days of incarceration, and times committing criminal offenses, by type of offense. To account for extreme variation, grouping crimes by offense classification or calculating monthly averages per event allows for more meaningful comparisons across studies.
AB - Background: The consequences of substance use disorders (SUDs) are varied and broad, affecting many sectors of society and the economy. Economic evaluation translates these consequences into dollars to examine the net economic impact of interventions for SUD, and associated conditions such as HCV and HIV. The nexus between substance use and crime makes criminal justice outcomes particularly significant for estimating the economic impact of SUD interventions, and important for data harmonization. Methods: We compared baseline data collected in six NIDA-funded Seek, Test, Treat and Retain (STTR) intervention studies that enrolled HIV-infected/at-risk individuals with SUDs (total n = 3415). Criminal justice measures included contacts with the criminal justice system (e.g., arrests) and criminal offenses. The objective was to develop a list of recommended measures and methods supporting economic data harmonization opportunities in HIV and SUD research, with an initial focus on crime-related outcomes. Results: Criminal justice contacts and criminal offenses were highly variable across studies. When measures grouped by offense classifications were compared, consistencies across studies emerged. Most individuals report being arrested for property or public order crimes (> 50%); the most commonly reported offenses were prostitution/pimping, larceny/shoplifting, robbery, and household burglary. Conclusions: We identified four measures that are feasible and appropriate for estimating the economic consequences of SUDs/HIV/HCV: number of arrests, number of convictions, days of incarceration, and times committing criminal offenses, by type of offense. To account for extreme variation, grouping crimes by offense classification or calculating monthly averages per event allows for more meaningful comparisons across studies.
KW - Data harmonization
KW - Economic evaluation
KW - Economic outcomes
KW - Social costs of crime
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U2 - 10.1186/s40352-018-0073-6
DO - 10.1186/s40352-018-0073-6
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85053831890
VL - 6
JO - Health and Justice
JF - Health and Justice
SN - 2194-7899
IS - 1
M1 - 17
ER -