An overview of women seeking substance abuse treatment in Oklahoma

Current studies of neurocognitive function in alcoholics are generally restricted to a relatively small subsample of persons seeking treatment. Subjects are typically excluded from study if reporting signs or symptoms of possibly confounding disorders such as comorbid psychiatric disorders, medical, or neurologic disorders. Thus, the question arises as to whether those individuals who actually participate in these reported studies are representative of the larger population of unselected persons. Studies of women are particularly subject to this concern due to higher rates of comorbid medical and psychiatric disorders in women. The current study was directed to contrasting treatment-seeking women who either were or were not selected for a laboratory study of neurocognitive function. Specifically, we compared subgroups of women identified on the basis of the presence of an alcohol use disorder and/or being selected for study. A total of 638 women were available for comparison. Contrary to anticipated concerns, analysis of basic demographic, alcohol and drug use, and affective/cognitive measures revealed considerable similarities among the groups. Consistent with other literature, the large majority of these women reported a family history of alcohol use disorders. They also reported a preference for stimulants as opposed to other illicit substances as evidenced in self-report of their most frequently used drug in the six months prior to treatment (excluding alcohol). These findings suggest that current selection procedures, although necessarily biasing samples in response to specific questions, do not result in samples that are significantly different from the majority of treatment-seeking women, at least on the basis of demographic and affective variables. Furthermore, as described herein, these findings have specific indications for primary care assessment and treatment referral.