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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Leigh A. Henderson, PhD, Synectics for Management Decisions, Inc., 1901 North Moore Street, Suite 900, Arlington, VA 22209, 410-235-3096, leighh@smdi.com and Thomas M. Brady, PhD, Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Parklawn Bldg, 5600 Fishers Lane, Suite 16-105, Rockville, MD 20857.
Male/female differences in the nationally representative Alcohol and Drug Services Study (ADSS) are examined in response to the National Institute of Medicine report (1) recommending the monitoring and reporting of sex differences in all health issues. In ADSS, individual client discharge records were abstracted over a 6-month period from a sample of treatment facilities. The 5,005 records are estimated to represent some 2.2 million discharges annually, 75% male and 25% female.
While the age and race distributions were similar for men and women, other characteristics differed significantly. Women were more likely to be unemployed than were men (55% vs. 41%). For both men and women, private insurance covered 17% of the treatment episodes. Among those not covered by private insurance, women were more likely to rely on public funding (36% vs. 24%). Women were more likely than men to report having children (69% vs. 53%). Almost half of both men and women entered treatment with both alcohol and drug abuse problems. Women were more likely than men to have been in treatment for drug abuse only (26% vs. 18%), and less likely to have reported alcohol as their substance of choice (57% vs. 46%).
This study suggests that women in substance abuse treatment have fewer financial resources, more drug problems, and are more likely to have parental responsibility than men. They may require different treatment resources than men.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Substance Abuse Treatment, Gender
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.