Service Use and Barriers to Care among Heroin Users: Results from a National Survey

Background: Heroin use is associated with many serious conse-quences. While effective treatments exist, barriers to services persist. Understanding service use and barriers to treatment can structure treatment practice and target interventions for those who are most at risk. Objectives: To describe patterns and corre-lates of substance abuse service utilization and treatment barriers among a nationally representative sample of heroin users. Methods: Data for this study were derived from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. This study focused on lifetime heroin users (N = 150). Results: Fifty-nine percent of heroin users reported receiving at least one treatment service. The most common services used were 12-step programs, detoxification, and rehabilitation. Approximately 44 % reported at least one barrier to treatment. The most common were lack of motivation and beliefs that it could be managed alone. In a multivariate logistic regression