Women and minorities representation in alcoholism treatment research

Academic Article
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publication date

  • 1996

abstract

  • Demographic and clinical information and referral outcome were systematically collected from 347 alcoholics who telephoned to inquire about treatment on alcoholism clinical research protocols over a 1-year period. The ratio of male to female callers was 7:3, with 2:1 scheduling appointments, 3:2 keeping appointments, and 3:2 actually enrolling in a treatment study. These data indicate that although a smaller ratio of female alcoholics initially called for treatment, those who did call were more likely to actually enter treatment than were male callers. A ratio of 2:1 non-minority to minority alcoholics called the clinic, with 7:3 scheduling appointments, 8:1.6 keeping appointments, and 8:1 actually entering the study. These data suggest that minority alcoholics were less likely than non-minority alcoholics to enter treatment protocols. However, discriminant function analysis found income to be a better predictor of entry into treatment than race, age, or gender, and analysis of covariance found non-minorities and minorities did not differ in rate of entry into treatment when income was used as covariate.