Need for and Receipt of Substance Use Disorder Treatment Among Adults, by Gender, in the United States.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional survey analysis of nationally representative data
PubMed 34546835 · doi:10.1177/00333549211041554
What was done
Analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH, 2015–2018) for US adults aged ≥18 with a past-year substance use disorder (SUD). Computed population-adjusted proportions for SUD treatment need and receipt by gender, and used multivariate logistic regression to evaluate gender-specific sociodemographic factors associated with SUD treatment receipt.
What was found
Among adults with a past-year SUD, 63.4% were men and 36.6% were women (P < .001), and 10.6% received SUD treatment overall. A higher proportion of women than men needed opioid use disorder treatment (11.9% vs 9.9%; P = .002). Treatment receipt was lowest for alcohol use disorder (7.5% in women vs 8.9% in men; P = .052). Non-Latinx Black men had significantly lower odds of treatment receipt than non-Latinx White men (aOR = 0.44; 95% CI, 0.27–0.71). Compared to non-Latinx White women, odds of receiving treatment were lower for Latinx women (aOR = 0.37; 95% CI, 0.18–0.73) and non-Latinx Black women (aOR = 0.51; 95% CI, 0.27–0.94).
Why it matters
Substance use disorder treatment uptake remains extremely low nationwide, and treatment receipt disparities are compounded by intersecting racial, ethnic, and gender factors.
Limits
The total sample size (n) is not reported in the abstract. As a cross-sectional study based on self-reported survey data, it cannot establish causality and may be subject to recall or reporting bias.
Cited by
- contradicts The male-to-female ratio for opioid addiction is approximately four men to every one woman.