Description of Data Sources Used in Visualizations
Automated Reporting Information Exchange System (ARIES)
The Indiana State Police’s ARIES is a central repository for all vehicle collisions reported in the state of Indiana, with and without alcohol involvement. Information on fatal accidents contained in the system is submitted to national Fatality Analysis Reporting System.
Description: ARIES contains data on vehicle crashes with and without alcohol involvement.
Sponsoring Organization/Source: Indiana State Police (ISP).
Geographic Level: State and county levels.
Availability: Upon request from the ISP.
Trend: Annual; most recent data from 2016.
Strengths/Weaknesses: The data are in aggregate format; comparisons by demographic variables such as age, gender, and race/ethnicity are not possible.
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Survey
The CDC conducts the BRFSS annually with the assistance of health departments in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. BRFSS asks respondents ages 18 and older questions about health-related behaviors, including alcohol consumption and tobacco use. BRFSS results are available at the national and state levels as well as for selected metropolitan/micropolitan areas. BRFSS data allow for statistical comparisons across gender, age, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, and income level.
The BRFSS has traditionally used random-digit-dial telephone sampling of households with landline telephones. However, the increasing percentage of households abandoning their landline telephones for cell phones has significantly eroded the population coverage provided by landline-based surveys to 70% of the U.S. household population. To meet challenges for increasing non-coverage and decreasing response rates due to cell-phone-only households, BRFSS has expanded its traditional methodology to a dual frame survey of landline and cell phone numbers and has introduced a new weighting method called iterative proportional fitting, or raking. It would not be appropriate to directly compare estimates prior to 2011 with later estimates, due to different data adjustment methods and different sampling frames.
Description: BRFSS is an annual state health survey that monitors risk behaviors, including alcohol and tobacco consumption, related to chronic diseases, injuries, and death.
Sponsoring Organization/Source: CDC.
Geographic Level: National and state levels; selected metropolitan/micropolitan areas.
Availability: National and state data are available from the CDC at https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/brfssprevalence.
Trend: Annual; most recent data from 2016.
Strengths/Weaknesses: CDC consistently works to test and improve BRFSS methodology in an effort to make findings result in more valid and reliable data for public health surveillance. Due to substantial changes in methodology starting with the 2011 survey, comparison of current estimates with estimates from previous years would not be appropriate.
Indiana Meth Lab Statistics
The Indiana State Police (ISP) collects data on clandestine meth lab seizures in the state, including number of meth labs seized, number of arrests made during lab seizures, and the number of children located at/rescued from meth labs. The information is then submitted to National Clandestine Laboratory Seizure System, a database maintained by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the El Paso Intelligence Center. State and county-level information can be requested from the ISP.
Description: ISP collects meth lab incidence data including: Number of meth labs seized, number of arrests made during lab seizures, and the number of children located at/rescued from meth labs.
Sponsoring Organization/Source: ISP.
Geographic Level: State and county level.
Availability: Indiana data from ISP are available on request; national data can be accessed at http://www.dea.gov/resource-center/meth-lab-maps.shtml .
Trend: Annual; most recent data from 2017.
Strengths/Weaknesses: The data include all meth incidents, including labs, "dumpsites," or "chemical and glassware" seizures.
National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)
NSDUH is a national survey funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and designed to monitor patterns and track changes in substance use among U.S. residents 12 years of age and older. The survey asks respondents to report on use and misuse of substances including alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and prescription medications. Additionally, NSDUH asks respondents whether they received treatment for drug abuse or drug dependence during the past (prior) year. The survey also includes several modules of questions that focus on mental health issues.
Prevalence rates for substance use and specific mental health indicators are provided for the nation and each state. Raw data files from NSDUH surveys are publicly available; however, they do not allow for comparisons among states because NSDUH eliminates state identifiers in the process of preparing public-use data files. Tables with prevalence numbers and rates are prepared by SAMHSA’s Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality and can be accessed online. Data reports are available since 1994. There is usually a two-year delay from the time of data collection to its availability.
In 2015, several changes were made to the NSDUH questionnaire and data collection process, causing some estimates not to be comparable with estimates from previous years. Items affected by these changes included binge drinking and prescription drug misuse. Due to these revisions, 2015 estimates cannot be compared to earlier years.
Description: NSDUH provides national and state-level estimates on the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs (including nonmedical prescription drug use), as well as mental health indicators in the general population ages 12 and older.
Sponsoring Organization/Source: SAMHSA.
Geographic Level: National and state; some sub-state data are available using small-area estimation techniques.
Availability: National and state data tables are available at the NSDUH website at http://www.samhsa.gov/data/population-data-nsduh .
Trend: Annual; most recent data from 2016.
Strengths/Weaknesses: State-level data do not allow for comparisons by gender or race/ethnicity.
Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS)
TEDS is a national database maintained by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that records information about individuals entering treatment for substance abuse and/or dependence. State mental health departments submit data to TEDS on an annual basis. The information reported in TEDS includes age, race, ethnicity, gender, and other demographic characteristics, as well as information on the use of various substances. The data represent admissions rather than individuals, thus individuals may be admitted to treatment more than once in a given year. TEDS data become publicly available approximately two years after the information is gathered. The format of the TEDS data allows for comparisons between Indiana and the United States by gender, race, and age groups.
County-level TEDS data for Indiana are available from the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA), Division of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA). While TEDS data can provide some information on drug use and abuse patterns both nationally and at the state level, the population on which the data are based may not be representative of all individuals in drug and alcohol treatment. For Indiana, TEDS data are limited to information on individuals entering substance abuse treatment who are 200% below the federal poverty level and receive state-funded treatment.
Description: TEDS provides information on demographic and substance abuse characteristics of individuals in alcohol and drug abuse treatment. Data are collected by treatment episode. A treatment episode is defined as the period from the beginning of treatment services (admission) to termination of services.
Sponsoring Organization/Source: SAMHSA; FSSA/DMHA.
Geographic Level: National and state; county-level data available from FSSA upon request.
Availability: National and state TEDS data were acquired from SAMHSA’s Drug & Alcohol Services Information System at http://wwwdasis.samhsa.gov/dasis2/teds.htm .
Trend: Annual; most recent data from 2016 (from SAMHSA) and 2017 (from DMHA).
Strengths/Weaknesses: In Indiana, these data are not representative of the state as a whole, as only individuals who are at or below the 200% poverty level are eligible for treatment at state-registered facilities.
Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR): County-Level Detailed Arrest and Offense Data
UCR is a national database maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that records the number of arrests for various offenses, including property crimes, violent crimes, and drug-related crimes throughout the United States. Law enforcement agencies in the 50 states and the District of Columbia submit UCR data annually. Data are reported for each state and each county. UCR data sets are publicly available; however, there is a two-year lag from the time data are collected until they are published. The format of the UCR data sets allows for comparisons of arrests between Indiana and the entire United States, and for comparisons between juveniles and adults. Since the data are presented in an aggregate format, demographic variables such as gender, age, or race/ethnicity are not available.
While UCR data include information about drug possession and drug manufacturing arrests, the involvement of drugs or alcohol in the commission of other crimes such as rape, burglary, robbery, etc., is not recorded. Additionally, since states are not required to submit crime information to the FBI, the level of reporting varies considerably. Because of these variations, the FBI uses statistical algorithms to estimate arrests for counties in which reporting is less than 100 percent. In Indiana, typically about 60% of counties, on average, submit information to the FBI. Indiana has a rather low reporting rate, so UCR results should be interpreted with caution; however, completeness of reporting has been improving over the past years (see Table 8.1, page 26, for coverage indicator by county).
Description: The UCR program provides a nationwide view of crime based on the submission of statistics by local law enforcement agencies throughout the country.
Sponsoring Organization/Source: FBI.
Geographic Level: National, state, and county level.
Availability: Data can be downloaded from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data website (http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/content/NACJD/guides/ucr.html).
Trend: Annual; most recent data from 2014.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Reporting of UCR data by jurisdictions across the state is often less than 100%, in which case statistical algorithms are employed to estimate arrest numbers. See Table 8.1 on page 26 for coverage indicator by Indiana county.
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS)
The YRBSS is a national survey of health-related behaviors among students in grades 9 through 12. The CDC conducts the survey biannually with the cooperation of state health departments throughout the nation. Student respondents are asked to describe whether they have engaged in numerous behaviors that could pose a danger to their health, including the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. CDC’s online database allows comparisons between Indiana and the United States on gender, race/ethnicity, and grade level. Data for the YRBSS are available every other year (odd years), with a one-year lag between the end of data collection and the publication of results. Though YRBSS data for some states are available from 1991, Indiana started participating in data collection in 2003. Availability of state-level results is dependent upon sufficient participation to achieve an adequate response rate to weight the data.
Description: This biannual national survey monitors health risks and behaviors among youth in grades 9 through 12.
Sponsoring Organization/Source: CDC.
Geographic Level: National and state level.
Availability: National and state-level data are downloadable from selected published tables on the CDC website at http://nccd.cdc.gov/YouthOnline/App/Default.aspx.
Trend: Biannual; most recent data from 2015.
Strengths/Weaknesses: At the state level, data by ethnicity (Hispanic) might not be available for some variables.
