New South Wales alcohol and other drug service providers' perceptions of the relative importance of client variables for determining treatment need.

Introduction: This study examines alcohol and other drug (AOD) service providers' perceptions of the most important variables (client complexity and demographic) for determining treatment need and intensity of intervention.

Methods: Online cross-sectional survey of N = 188 clinicians/service managers working in AOD services across metropolitan and regional/rural New South Wales, Australia. Participants ranked the importance of demographic and family factors, substance use, physical health, mental health, functioning and activities of daily living and youth-specific variables in identifying treatment need (five-point Likert scales).

Results: More than 90% of participants ranked 43 out 56 potential variables as 'very important'/'essential' in identifying treatment need. The 10 variables most ranked as 'very important'/'essential' were 'pregnant or breastfeeding' (95.2%), 'suicide/self-harm' (95.2%), 'overdose risk' (94.7%), 'abuse/neglect' (among youth/adolescent populations; 94.1%), 'mental health severity' (93.6%), 'dependent children' (93.1%), 'co-existing mental health concerns' (93.0%), 'hospitalisations due to mental health' (92.5%), 'child protection concerns' (among youth/adolescent populations; 92.2%) and 'disability' (91.5%). The 10 variables most commonly ranked as 'slightly important'/'not at all important' included 'citizenship' (63.3%), 'sex' (59.6%), 'country of birth' (54.8%), 'highest education' (50.0%), 'sexual orientation' (44.1%), 'relationship status' (33.5%), 'gender' (31.4%), 'transport' (28.2%), 'employment' (23.9%) and 'refugee status' (24.0%). Some ratings differed by geographic location (metropolitan vs. regional/rural) and job role (allied health worker, nurse, doctor or manager).

Discussion and conclusions: This study provides insight into service providers' perceptions of treatment need and intensity associated with a range of client factors. It is a first step towards improvements in routine data collections that are used to inform treatment planning.