Substance abuse : official publication of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse
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An accurate national listing of substance abuse treatment programs is essential for reporting data about the nation's treatment system and the clients entering that system. The National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (NSSATS) is thought to provide the most comprehensive list of treatment providers. Therefore, we report a partial test of the concurrent validity of the NSSATS in a single mid-sized city. ⋯ With all sources, including NSSATS, we identified 96 separate listings that met the operational definition of adult treatment within the geographic bounds of the city. The NSSATS identified 70 of those 96 programs (73%), the 5-source compilation identified a sample of 83 (86%). While these findings from a single city cannot be considered a full test of the validity of the NSSATS, the data presented offer at least one partial but promising indication that the NSSATS may be a valid national listing and may serve as satisfactory national frame.