Indicator Description
Typical measures for this indicator are the percent of adults who report any days with problematic or binge alcohol use, any days with illicit drug use, or any days with tobacco use in the past month. Some communities periodically conduct surveys of residents.

What to Measure

• The percent of adults who report substance use during the past month.
• Substance use in the past year or over multiple years.
• Lifetime use.
• At-risk or binge drinking rates.

Where to Find Local Data

Surveys may have been conducted by local or state health agencies, local schools, or community groups. Examples of national surveys from which data are available at the state, and in some communities, at the local level include:

• Monitoring the Future is an ongoing study of the behaviors, attitudes, and values of sample populations including college students and young adults.
• Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) tracks health risks in the United States for adults 18 years or older.
• National Survey on Drug Use and Health (formerly called the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse) tracks illegal drug, alcohol, and tobacco use.
• Partnership Attitude Tracking Study tracks the attitudes consumers have about illicit drugs.

Interpretation Guidelines

• It may be useful to compare results from local self-report surveys with the established national surveys or state averages. Take care, however, to ensure the same types of people were surveyed when making comparisons (particularly the same age groups).
• Research has shown that people completing self-report surveys often underreport their use. In general, studies have found that to obtain truthful behaviors, respondents must perceive the survey as important and know that the survey has procedures to protect their privacy and allow for anonymous participation.
• Some populations are not captured in surveys administered to adults. Homeless populations, in particular, have a high rate of substance use and are often excluded from surveys administered by telephone, mail, internet, and in person. Therefore, your data may be an underestimate of the true rate of use in the community.

Source: Compass of Larimer County. Adult Alcohol Use. June 2003.