Exploring Gender and Ethnoracial Differences and Trends in Methamphetamine Treatment

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Substance Use Disorders
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Methamphetamine use and mortality are rising significantly in the U.S.
• Understanding treatment trends is crucial, especially for women and ethnoracial groups in affected areas like Los Angeles County.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore differences in methamphetamine treatment trends.
• To examine trends by gender and ethnoracial group, particularly in Los Angeles County.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of a large sample across four waves (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017).
• Comparative analysis to identify subgroup differences.
• Trend analysis of treatment episodes by gender and ethnoracial group for methamphetamine vs. other drug users.

Main Results:

• Methamphetamine treatment admissions increased across all genders and races over time.
• Women constituted a higher proportion of methamphetamine treatment episodes (43.3%) than other drug episodes (33.6%).
• Latina individuals represented 45.5% of methadone-related admissions.
• Methamphetamine users had lower successful treatment completion rates and were in programs with less financial and cultural capacity.

Conclusions:

• Treatment admissions for methamphetamine users increased across all demographics.
• Women, particularly Latinas, showed the most substantial increases, widening the gender gap.
• Methamphetamine users consistently had lower treatment completion rates and accessed less resourced programs compared to other drug users.