Effect of sex bias on women's studies on alcoholism

Women alcoholics have historically been underrepresented in research studies far out of proportion to the difference in male female prevalence rates. This study examined disparities in the ways in which male and female alcoholics have been studied in the treatment outcome literature and examined the role of sex bias (author sex) as a contributing factor. Two hundred fifty-nine studies published between 1972 and 1980 were reviewed that reported drinking-related outcome of subjects treated with psychological intervention or medication. Only 7.8% of subjects sampled in these studies were women. Of greater interest, female authors sampled nearly 3 times as many women in proportion to the number of people they studied as did male authors; women subjects were more than one and one-half times as likely to be followed up by female than by male authors; and 3 times as many female as male authors presented data examining sex differences. The same kind of differences between male and female authors occurred with respect to specifying precise numbers of male and female subjects studied and followed up, and with respect to examining prognostic variables related to women's outcome. The data suggest that subtle sex bias contributes to inadequate studying of women alcoholics.