Comparability
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Welfare and Health, Social StatisticsBenedikte Beckman Nygaard
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The statistics are compiled in the current, comparable form for 2015-2022. There are no European guidelines for statistics on social drug abuse treatment. There are European comparable statistics where data for Denmark are provided by the Danish Health and Medicines Authority.
When comparing these statistiscs across boaders, it should be taken into account that differences in registration practices and structural differences between countries may affect comparability. In the international context, the Health Data Agency and the Health Authority are responsible for reporting to EMCDDA, so inquiries about international comparability can advantageously be directed to them.
When comparing over time, it should be noted that there are differences in registration practices among municipalities, and certain questions may be interpreted differently depending on the case worker completing the forms. Furthermore, changes in reporting requirements over time and the transfer of substance abuse treatment to different authorities may affect comparability. As of January 1, 2024, the Enrollment, Services, and Discharge forms became voluntary to report, and as of January 1, 2025, they will no longer be possible to report. Therefore, reports of these forms after January 1, 2024, will be incomplete and underestimated.
Comparability - geographical
For European comparable statistics in the field of substance abuse, please refer to the EMCDDA (European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction), where the Danish Health and Medicines Authority participates and contributes data for Denmark.
Comparability over time
These statistics are calculated and comparable for the period 2015 onwards. Since there are municipalities in the statistics that have not approved their data, this means that analysis of the development over the time series should only be done for the municipalities included in all years. All 98 municipalities are included for 2021-2023, making it possible to compare these three years. For 2020 and 2019, 97 municipalities are included, for 2017, 96 municipalities are included, for 2016, 91 municipalities are included, and for 2015, 90 municipalities are included.
The statistics are foundationally comparable to previous statistics from the Danish Authority of Social Services and Housing's data banks for the Drug Abuse Database, which was closed down in 2017 in connection with task transfer from the Danish Authority of Social Services and Housing to Statistics Denmark. Due to an intensified course of contact with the municipalities from 2017 onwards, the coverage in the present statistics will probably be higher than in the previous statistics. The data base for these statistics contains data back to 1996, however, comparability seems difficult. In the Structural Reform from January 2007, when municipalities were merged, the responsibility for drug abuse treatment passed from the then counties to the municipalities. Around 2012, it was decided to coordinate reports on drug abuse in the Drug Abuse Database (SMDB).
The data basis for this statistics contains data dating back to 1996, but comparisons over time should be made with caution due to extensive structural changes along the way.
In the period from 11 April to 21 May 2023, Statistics Denmark experienced technical issues which resulted in the municipalities' figures not being updated daily as usual. Therefore, municipalities that have approved during this period will be registered with a fictitious approval date of 21 May 2023. Statistics Denmark has reviewed data for the affected municipalities and can ascertain that it has only had a very small impact on the municipalities involved.
Several municipalities have not been and are not aware that all requests must be registered, even if they are not initiated. It is Statistics Denmark's opinion that more and more municipalities are becoming aware of this and will report all requests in the future. However, there are some municipalities that assess that they only have resources to register requests that are initiated. For these municipalities, the number of requests and initiations will be the same (or very close).
Several municipalities have not been and are not aware that the initiation date should be the date the treatment starts. Many instead register the date the citizen is assessed. This has consequences regarding the interpretation of the treatment guarantee.
Statistics Denmark has also become aware that many municipalities have not been aware that children and young people receiving drug abuse treatment must also be reported under § 101 i Serviceloven. Therefore, the number of children and young people under the age of 18 in the statistics has probably been underestimated, and a slight increase is expected in 2022 onwards, since several municipalities have become aware that children and young people under the age of 18 must be reported in this statistics. Statistics Denmark expect a further increase with the adoption of the Children's Act (Barnets Lov) (§ 33), which emphasizes the municipality's obligation to report drug abuse treatment for children and young people under the age of 18.
Statistics Denmark has also become aware that a few municipalities only report § 142 when they are dealing with a citizen who receives both drug addiction treatment under § 142 and § 101. This registration practice will result in an underestimation of the number of citizens in § 101 treatment.
Coherence - cross domain
There is no direct connection with other statistics from Statistics Denmark.
Statistics users who are generally interested in drug abuse treatment for both drug abuse and alcohol can be referred to the National Alcohol Treatment Register (NAB) at the The Danish Health Data Authority.
Municipalities' services under Serviceloven are calculated across social statistics, i.a. adults (disability), vulnerable children and young people and drug abuse by Statistics Denmark. The sources for these statistics are often based on the municipalities' administrative IT-systems.
Coherence - internal
Data is consistent through a number of rules that ensure this. Consistency in the dataset is also ensured. In some tables tables, different definitions makes the number of persons differ marginally. E.g. a person who have moved from one municipality to another can be counted more than once.