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    Personal Finances and Welfare, Social Statistics
    Jonas Kirchheiner-Rasmussen
    +45 61 50 23 80

    RAS@dst.dk

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    Drug Abuse Treatment

    These statistics are a annual measurement of the municipalities' drug abuse treatments activities initiated by the municipalities calculated in terms of number of activities (request, initiation, ended treatment courses), courses and persons. These statistics are grouped by regions, municipalities, sex and age groups.

    Data description

    The statistics contain information on drug abuse treatment, including information on the contact process (from request to ended treatment course) and treatment process (from initiation to ended treatment course).

    Persons in treatment for alcohol abuse and persons in privately paid drug abuse treatment are not included in the statistics, as are persons in anonymous drug abuse treatment pursuant to the (Section 101a of the Service Act. Persons without a CPR number are also not included. The municipalities are only included in the statistics for the years in which they have approved their data, but since data has been imputed for two municipalities that lack approvals in 2018, 2019 and 2020, national totals are available for 2018-2025. For the years 2021-2025, data for all municipalities are presented.

    See an overview of all reportable information by July 1, 2025, which is also available on the statistics information page under "Vejledninger".

    See a visual overview of what must be reported by the municipality. Please note that the schema KVALHEP was omitted by July 1, 2025.

    Reporting of admissions, services, and discharges became voluntary as of January 1, 2024, and ceased to be possible as of January 1, 2025.

    Classification system

    The statistics are divided into municipalities, regions, gender, age groups, completion status, and compliance with the treatment guarantee.

    Sector coverage

    Not relevant for these statistics.

    Statistical concepts and definitions

    Request for treatment: When a citizen contacts (for example, in person, in writing, or by phone) the municipality or a treatment provider with the aim of receiving substance abuse treatment, this is referred to in this report as a request. A request does not necessarily lead to the initiation of substance abuse treatment if, for example, the citizen withdraws their request or fails to attend a scheduled screening interview.

    Initiation: When, following a screening, the municipality assesses that a citizen belongs to the target group for substance abuse treatment, the treatment programme is initiated. The initiation date is the point in time when the assessment process has been completed and the citizen begins receiving treatment. Therefore, the start date of the first treatment service corresponds to the initiation date.

    Service assignment: The municipality assigns the treatment service to which it has referred the citizen. There may be multiple service assignments during the same treatment course. Citizens may be assigned to multiple services at the same time, meaning that service assignments may overlap in time. If a citizen starts a new service during the same course of treatment, this is recorded as a new service link. The service link records whether the citizen is in social substance abuse treatment or medical substance abuse treatment (treatment type) and whether it is outpatient, day, or inpatient treatment (treatment intensity).

    Closure: A closure indicates that the municipality has concluded the citizen’s contact/treatment course.

    Treatment course: A treatment course is the period from the start of treatment to its conclusion.

    Contact process: A contact process is the period from the request for treatment to the conclusion of treatment. A contact process does not always result in a treatment course if treatment is not initiated. In these cases, there will only be a request and a conclusion.

    Treatment guarantee: All citizens have a legal right to receive an offer of social drug addiction treatment within 14 days after they have requested treatment, and this is referred to as a treatment guarantee cf. Section 101 of the Service Act, Section 142 of the Health Act and section 33 of the Children's Act.

    Section 101 of the Social Service Act: Section 101 of the Social Services Act describes the local council’s obligation to offer social treatment to individuals with a substance use disorder and the treatment guarantee within 14 days. Social substance use treatment, also referred to as substance-free treatment in these statistics, may include, for example, individual counseling sessions or group therapy.

    Section 33 of the Children's Act: Section 33 of the Children's Act outlines the local council’s obligation to provide social treatment to children and young people under the age of 18 with a substance use disorder, as well as the 14-day treatment guarantee. Social substance use treatment, also known as non-pharmacological treatment, may include, for example, individual counseling sessions or group therapy.

    Section 142 of the Health Act: Section 142 of the Health Act describes the local council’s obligation to offer medical treatment with addictive medications and the 14-day treatment guarantee. Medical substance abuse treatment is also known as medical substance abuse treatment or substitution treatment and is a form of treatment in which substance-dependent individuals receive a substitute medication for the purpose of treating or reducing harm related to their addiction.

    Statistical unit

    • Incidents (request, initiation, end of treatment) in treatment course
    • Contact course and treatment course
    • Persons in treatment during the year

    Statistical population

    Drug abuse treatment delivered by municipalities and treatment centers for citizens in Denmark, according to Section 101 of the Service Act,Section 142 of the Health Act and Section 33 of the Children's Act.

    Reference area

    Denmark excluding Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

    Time coverage

    These statistics cover the time period from 2015 and onwards. Micro-data for researchers and ministries include contact courses with start dates going back to the 1980s.

    Base period

    Not relevant for these statistics.

    Unit of measure

    Number of incidents, number of treatments and number of persons in treatment, including percent and compliance with treatment guarantee.

    Reference period

    Calendar year.

    Frequency of dissemination

    Yearly.

    Legal acts and other agreements

    Reporting of people in social drug use treatment by Section 101 of the Service Act and Section 33 of the Children's Act is compulsory due to:

    The Children's Act (Barnets Lov) is came into force by Jan 1, 2024, which means that the municipalities must report social substance abuse treatment for children and young people under the age of 18 according to a new paragraph (§ 33). Before all social substance abuse treatments must be reported according to § 101.

    Reporting of people in medicinal drug use treatment according to § 142 i the Health Act er lovpligtig jf.:

    Cost and burden

    The municipalities and the drug addiction treatment centers are obliged to report to Statistics Denmark in accordance to the laws in "Legal acts and other agreements"

    From 2024, it it only the municipal authorities that have the obligation to report cf. the section "Legal acts and other agreements", which is why the reporting burden is expected to be significantly reduced from this date.

    A new revision took effect on July 1, 2025, with the aim of further reducing the reporting burden. The KvalHep form was discontinued, and some background questions (name, gender, citizenship, ethnic origin, education, housing situation) were removed or simplified. Read more in the requirement specification.

    From September 1, 2024 the regions have reported drug abuse treatment data on a limited scale from their [new treatment option]https://www.regioner.dk/sundhed/psykiatri-og-social/integreret-behandling-for-mennesker-med-psykisk-lidelse-og-samtidig-rusmiddelproblematik/) via LPR. The data will be a part of next years publication in 2026.

    Comment

    Further information can be found at the Subject page for these statistics, or by contacting Statistics Denmark directly at smdb@dst.dk.

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