Gender differences in cocaine use and treatment response

Much of our understanding of treatment efficacy in drug abuse is based on male drug abusers. In order to determine if there are gender differences in baseline drug use and treatment response, we compared male and female cocaine abusers who participated in an outpatient randomized clinical trial (RCT) evaluating pharmacotherapies for cocaine abuse. Although females had more severe drug problems at intake, they were as successful as males in the RCT and more successful at 6-month follow-up.